The Communist Party of India (CPI) has always believed in inner-party democracy and all the members of the party are free to express their differences on various issues in appropriate party forums. But expressing one’s opinion on party stances outside the party forums cannot be accepted, said Kanam Rajendran, CPI State secretary.
He was speaking to the media at a Meet-the-Press programme organised here after the party conference re-elected him as the party’s State secretary for the third consecutive term.
Responding to a specific question on whether the party would take any disciplinary action against senior leaders like C. Divakaran who responded publicly, Mr. Rajendran said it’s not right to comment on party lines in public. The newly constituted council will take a call on matters like disciplinary action at the right time after a review meeting.
Mr. Rajendran also said the party has recently made big organizational strides. The party membership which was around 1.2 lakhs during the time of the Kottayam State conference has increased to 1.7 lakhs now. Similarly, the party has also expanded its footprints to more areas, including Malappuram and Palakkad, after the Malappuram summit. The party has now around 11,000 branch committees against the previous 8,000 branch committees, he said.
Members from different backgrounds used to express their diverse opinions on party governance in appropriate party forums, but this doesn’t mean that the party is not satisfied with the present Left rule, or such opinions cannot be portrayed as a division within the Left front, he said. In reply to a question, he said no party conferences held at the branch or constituency level ahead of the State conference demanded severing ties with the Left.
He also responded that there was no need to hold a discussion on whether the Muslim League would be taken onboard the Left front as long as the League had not made its stance clear on this issue.
“We can hold a discussion on it when League severs its ties with the United Democratic Front (UDF). The party is now focussed on increasing the winning chances of party candidates in tune with the increase in the party’s strength,” Mr. Rajendran added.
