THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the curtain rises for the CPI state conference in the second week of September in Alappuzha, incumbent state secretary Binoy Viswam is all set to continue. The CPI has also decided to stick to the 75- year age limit it implemented in the last state conference. As per the age limit, prominent leaders including E Chandrasekharan and K R Chandramohan will be relieved from the state executive. In the state council also, around 20 sitting members will be replaced with new leaders.
Binoy Viswam was elected as the state secretary after the demise of Kanam Rajendran in December 2023.
In the district conferences, the leadership strictly implemented its instruction that the newly elected district council should include 30 percent of youngsters, below 40, and ensure 15 percent representation for women in all units. It is to be seen whether the party will implement the rule while constituting the state council too.
As the conferences in 14 districts are over, the district secretaries elected are the ones proposed by the state executive, which is a big relief to the state leadership.
Election of a woman leader, Sumalatha, as the district secretary of Palakkad district is an achievement for CPI as it is the first time in Kerala a communist party has elevated a woman to the district secretary post.
In the conferences, the leaders who attended on behalf of the state leadership were keen to answer all criticism raised against it.
“For example, on issues such as the controversial permission given to a brewery, the government accepted the demand of CPI that the company should not be set up on paddy land or land converted from wetland,” a CPI executive member told TNIE.
“In the ADGP Ajith Kumar issue also, the government divested him of the law and order charge following the CPI’s demand. Again, it was after the party stepped up pressure on the CPM that E P Jayarajan was removed from the LDF convener post. And it is for the first time that CPI was allotted two Rajya Sabha seats. Though the CPM demanded that the second seat should be shared with them, we did not concede,” he said.
According to party leaders, after the exit of K E Ismail and C Divakaran from the state leadership and with Kanam’s passing away the power equation in CPI has changed drastically.
The current leadership also succeeded in promoting young leaders in districts and it prevented the formation of any form of factionalism against the former.
Meanwhile, the fall in the growth in the membership will be a concern for the party though there is a slight improvement compared to the earlier years.
Now the party has an estimated number of around 1.67 lakh members in the state. In 2024 there was a sharp fall in the membership as it was down to 1.66 lakh from 1.75 in 2023.