MADURAI, city of temples, in southern India’s state of Tamil Nadu, became the host for the third time to the congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) this month.

One of the earlier occasions, the third congress of the undivided Communist Party of India, is of historical interest to Morning Star readers. It was held from December 27 1953, to January 4 1954.

This was the period when the CPI emerged from a period of sectarian mistakes and when it was reorganising itself from the ban imposed on the Nehru-led Congress government.

In spite of these setbacks the third-party congress was successfully organised and the people of Madurai wholeheartedly supported it. The whole city was reportedly in a festive mood on the eve of the party congress. A mammoth crowd waited at Madurai railway station to welcome the delegates.

As soon as CPI general secretary Ajoy Ghosh and Communist Party of Great Britain general secretary Harry Pollitt came out of the railway station, people burst into joy and raised slogans which sounded for a long time.

Overwhelmed by the reception, Pollitt gave a powerful speech emphasising the common goal of the Communist Party in Britain and the Communist Party of India. He also forcefully mentioned that the people of both countries have a common need for peace and freedom from exploitation.

An old woman approached Harry Pollitt and said in Tamil that only a communist party could save the nation. Pollitt could not understand her Tamil words but acknowledged her sentiments and gifted her the flowers that were given to him.

Madurai city again hosted the ninth congress of the CPI(M) in the summer of 1972. The torch of 44 martyred agricultural workers burnt alive by feudal landlords travelled 287 miles and was handed over to P Sundarayya, the hero of the epic Telangana struggles. His name continues to electrify the youth of India today and has inspired generations.

For the third time, delegates from all corners of India and of its overseas units (the Association of Indian Communists (AIC) representing Britain and Ireland) gathered for the 24th congress of the CPI(M) this spring. There were 729 delegates and 79 observers.

The congress opened by paying respectful homage to the memory of Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, who was an outstanding leader of the communist movement. He died on September 12 2024 at the age of 72.

In his five decades of political life, he made his mark first as a leader of the student movement. Sitaram joined the party in 1975, was elected to the central committee in 1985 and to the politburo in 1992. He was elected general secretary in 2015.

The multi-talented Sitaram, with his deep grasp of Marxism, played the key role in formulating CPI(M) political positions, particularly after the fall of the USSR. He also made a penetrating critique of the Hindutva ideology as espoused by the far-right RSS movement chief Golwalkar. More recently, Sitaram played a central role in forging the broad unity of secular opposition parties, which led to the formation of the INDIA block.

Leading communist Brinda Karat explained the democratic input into the congress’s decisions: its draft resolution was released for discussion at all levels of the party two months in advance, and attracted 3,424 amendments and 84 recommendations, 133 of which were accepted.

Brinda went on to say that as congress was being held, the BJP/RSS-led government of India had passed the Waqf Board Amendment Act, altering the rules around trusteeship of Muslim institutions, which is opposed by the CPI(M) as an attack on the Indian constitution.

The party is also highly critical of the Indian government for its silence on the imposition of a 26 per cent tariff on Indian products imposed by the Donald Trump administration.

“It lacks the courage to fight against the worst actions of the US government.” On behalf of the central committee, Prakash Karat, co-ordinator of the politburo, introduced the draft political resolution and political review report and placed it for discussion.

Challenging Hindutva

The fight against the growing threat of Hindutva (far-right Hindu chauvinist) forces featured highly in the deliberations. Communal forces in alliance with corporate entities are spreading an ideology that divides people.

With the BJP-led government in power at the centre for the third consecutive time, the RSS and Sangh Parivar (the network of far-right militias and community organisations grouped around the RSS) are using the opportunity of state authority to infiltrate all levels of government administration.

Besides fighting in the electoral field, the party resolved to increase its independent strength and that of class and mass organisations to fight on economic, social, ideological and cultural fronts against Hindutva forces. It emphasised the need to strengthen left unity and mobilise all secular and democratic forces ready to join those struggles.

Tariff wars

US imperialism and inter-imperialist contradictions are on the cusp of a big change following the Trump presidency and his attempt to overturn the world order to “make America great again.” The tariff wars are a reflection of this disruption, with the US able to take these steps as the country is the centre of world finance capital today.

Neofascism

The congress assessed the differences of classical fascism of Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Mussolini in Italy, as fascism under national capital and German monopoly capital, from today’s far right.

Today, in India, national capital has been replaced by international finance capital. Neo-fascism is emerging in the era of international finance capital and will require further study and discussion.

The CPI(M) recognises the class orientation of the congress and the BJP parties as the same. Both are led by the big bourgeoisie and act in its class interest.

The key difference is that the BJP is a communal party of the RSS. The CPI(M) will co-operate with non-BJP parties but not in political alliances. Electoral alliances can only be state-specific. It remains committed to the left and the Democratic Front.

Organisation

The party has a million-plus members and over 50 million in its mass organisations.

The CPI(M) recorded a modest increase to 1.02 million members, with women’s membership crossing the 20 per cent mark and young people to 22.6 per cent. While welcoming the positive development, the CPI(M) is not satisfied with the status quo and will look to increase its numbers in the next three years.

A careful watch will be maintained on the quality of members and care given to their education and development. The CPI(M) has a healthy composition of 48.2 per cent working class and 27.2 per cent agricultural workers and poor peasants.

The congress elected an 85-member central executive committee and a politburo of 18 members, with Mariam Alexander Baby as the general secretary.

MA Baby becomes the second leader from Kerala, after EMS Namboodiripad (the first Communist chief minister of Kerala in 1957), to become general secretary. He is a former student and youth leader, MP, minister, and head of the CPI-M international department.

The congress self-critically examined and acknowledged its failures, starting from the politburo and central committee, which percolate down to the local level.

Its first priority is the quality of membership based on Leninist principles of organisation. Members should be selected on the basis of political consciousness, and a strict process governs development from an auxiliary group member to candidate to full member. The party must increase youth and women’s representation, overcoming obstructions and removing barriers.

It must combat Hindutva, marshalling and deploying all forces to that end. Prakash Karat concluded that “the real school of learning is the school of struggle.”

The congress closed with a massive open-air rally of 200,000-plus cheering on the new central committee and the outgoing leaders, Prakash Karat, Manik Sarkar, Brinda Karat and Subhashini Ali, while welcoming the newcomers, Mariam Dhawale, Vijoo Krishnan and other members of the politburo. Socialism is the alternative!