CPI-M young and restless at 30

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Kolkata: Three decades in power in West Bengal, and the CPI-M is struggling to cope with corruption of its core values, especially among its new recruits.

The Red cadre-Raj, as it is popularly known in Bengal, is today more an embarrassment for the party than an advantage, more so when there are no elections knocking at the door.

Sukalyan Chatterjee is a 19-year old college student and wants to be a member of the CPI-M. At a party rally he stood awestruck in the midst of thousands of party workers, each hoping to make his presence felt.

The party’s support base has increased by 10 per cent in the last two years, and many CPM leaders are of the view that it has happened at the cost of the party's core values. But does Chatterjee think so?

"I don't think there's lack of discipline. But yes, there are problems areas. Different kinds of ideas prevail when you are young, both negative and positive," says Chatterjee.

In power for three decades, CPI-M today has over three lakh members in Bengal alone. It is today as much a party of the rich and the upwardly mobile, as of the have-nots. Or is it at all a party of the have-nots anymore? Leaders are worried and are checking on party members.

"Rectification campaign is not a seasonal campaign. Rectification campaign is to be conducted continuously and that should be sustained. If we fail to rectify those who are really deviating, we are to throw them out from the party," says Biman Bose, CPI-M Secretary, West Bengal.

A new set of induction norms are being introduced, and an aspirant could be considered for membership only after four years of dedicated work with the party. All aspiring members must play leadership roles amongst the masses, and their performance would be reviewed periodically.

During its formative years, the CPI-M called itself a party of the have-nots. After being in power for a record stint it is now as much a party of the urban middle class and the rich. The changing outside face of the party has in due course had its impact within it. Question is, whether the so-called corrective measures are too little, too late.