THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM is preparing for a sweeping organisational overhaul, with party committees from the state leadership to the grassroots set to be reconstituted, to strengthen its organisational machinery.
The exercise will begin after the extended state committee meeting in September and continue through the organisational conference process scheduled to commence next year.
Committees from the state to district, area, local and branch level, will be reviewed and reconstituted. Inactive members and those who failed to show organisational effectiveness are unlikely to find a place in the new bodies. “Those who are inactive and those who failed to demonstrate organisational effectiveness are likely to be left out of the reorganisation,” a CPM central committee member said. “The Kerala unit has long taken pride in its membership strength. We have realised that numbers alone are not enough to win struggles and elections,” he said.
The CPM’s membership in Kerala has grown to around 5.6 lakh. However, following its devastating electoral setback, the leadership concluded in a detailed review that it had failed to nurture its cadre organisationally, politically and ideologically. The review also found that the party failed to strengthen the organisational outlook and capacity of its cadre. As per the leadership, the party failed to keep pace with changing times, resulting in lapses in the functioning of leaders and cadres alike.
“We also failed to take decisions based on a proper assessment of the evolving political situation,” a senior leader said. “The party did not take disciplinary action against those who adopted anti-party positions. Besides, the leadership displayed overconfidence despite setbacks in the parliamentary and local body elections. We failed to undertake deep introspection,” he said.
The leader further said that, apart from mistakes in candidate selection in Payyannur and Taliparamba, the decision to field former minister K K Shailaja from Peravoor had also been a serious error.
“However, the responsibility is collective. We are not putting the blame on any individual,” he added.
According to party sources, the extended state conference will lay down the broad political and organisational roadmap for the restructuring exercise. Besides district secretariat members, leaders of mass organisations will also be invited.
The CPM leadership dismissed speculation that the extended state conference would witness a major change in the state leadership. Once the conference concludes, preparations for the organisational conferences leading up to the 2028 state conference will gather pace.
During the organisational conferences beginning next year, committees at every level will be reconstituted after a performance review, with inactive and non-performing members likely to be excluded from the party’s organisational structure.
Review report
CPM’s membership in Kerala has grown to around 5.6 lakh. However, following its electoral setback, the leadership concluded that it failed to nurture its cadre organisationally, politically and ideologically
The review also found the party failed to strengthen its cadre’s organisational outlook and capacity
A senior leaders said the party failed to take decisions based on proper assessment of the evolving political situation