The new West Bengal state committee was formed at the Bengal unit’s 27th conference held in Hooghly district. The four-day state conference concluded with a public rally addressed by Karat and Md Salim.
Former Lok Sabha member Mohammed Salim was re-elected as the state secretary of the West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), for a second term on Tuesday. The party, which formed a new 80-member state committee, also brought in fresh faces to replace about a dozen veteran leaders as part of a revival strategy ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.
The new state committee was formed at the Bengal unit’s 27th conference held in Hooghly district. Central committee coordinator Prakash Karat highlighted the need to include young members and address the growing distance between the party and its rural cadre and support base during the four-day state conference. The conference concluded with a public rally addressed by Prakash Karat and Salim.
New members like Tirthankar Roy, Gautam Ghosh, Shantanu Dey and Sukul Sikdar were inducted, while senior leaders such as Sushanta Ghosh, Tamsher Ali, Anju Kar, and Sukhendu Panigrahi stepped down from the committee.
“Senior leaders, including former minister Asok Bhattacharya (75), former Lok Sabha member Amiya Patra (72), front leader Amal Haldar (74), Darjeeling district leader Jibesh Sarkar (70), who have played key roles in the party since the Jyoti Basu era, have bowed out citing their age,” a state leader source said.
The lack of young members and the growing distance from grassroots supporters were key issues discussed at the meeting.
The CPI(M) ruled West Bengal for 34 years until it was defeated by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2011 when the party failed to win even a single seat in the 294-member assembly.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who passed away in September last year, had told Bengal leaders in 2021 that the median age of the nation’s population, which is around 28 years, should be reflected in the party.
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