Kolkata: More than heavyweight and popular faces in mainstream and social media, the grassroots-level leaders will be the principal faces of the CPI(M)’s campaign in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The first reflection of this transition in the “faces of the campaign”, party insiders said, will be felt in the mega rally of the party at Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata scheduled on April 20 this year.
Barring the CPI(M) politburo member and the party’s state secretary in West Bengal Md Salim, there will be no other heavyweight or popular face on the list of speakers on the occasion.
Besides Salim, the other speakers will be mainly grassroots-level leaders who are spearheading movements in specific sectors like the peasants’ wing, sharecroppers’ association, trade union, and most importantly slum dwellers association.
According to a senior central committee member of CPI(M) from West Bengal, in a recent internal party document, which analysed the party’s election strategy, CPI(M)’s central leadership had observed that significant increase in the strength of the party requires the rebuilding and expansion of the party and the Left in West Bengal and Tripura, where the urgent necessity is conducting mass struggles and movements.
“In the internal documents, the party has also stressed special attention to work among rural and urban poor and organising them. In line with the observations, the state unit of the party has decided to keep the faces of grassroots level movements in the campaign forefront, the beginning of which will be made in the Brigade rally in April this year,” the central committee member said.
The proposed transition in the leading faces of the campaign, party insiders said, is being pointed out by another internal observation. During the last few years especially before the last few elections in West Bengal, although there had been impressive footfalls at the rallies and meetings of the party, its reflections could be felt in the EVM machines.
“The impressive gatherings were undoubtedly because of the grassroots level networking by the grassroots level local leaders. But probably the crowd that they arrange feels frustrated to see only heavyweight leavers giving speeches at the dais and the main individuals organising them not being visible. This is yet another reason behind the proposed transition in the leading faces of the campaign,” the central committee member said.
IANS
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