Bhattacharjee at the congress on Sunday. (PTI)

Coimbatore, March 30: The CPM is set to officially push for aggressive industrialisation in Bengal, according to a key internal document.

The drive for industrialisation will be packaged with overtures to the working class and references to agriculture growth to make it palatable to the party’s core constituency but the stress will be on the manufacturing sector.

The draft political organisation report suggests the party will modify its stand in Kerala, where, too, it is in power.

The document pitches for Bengal’s industrialisation by citing the “historical background”. It says Bengal has seen “significant development” in agriculture in the seventies and eighties but Kerala’s food production has gone down. Hence, “industrialisation in Kerala” cannot be “on the same pattern”.

The report, to be presented by general secretary Prakash Karat to the ongoing CPM congress and expected to be adopted with minor changes, seems to have endorsed Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation drive. At the same time, the draft takes into account the concerns of Bhattacharjee’s Kerala counterpart, V.S. Achuthanandan, who has reservations about such a thrust. For Kerala, stress has also been laid on public sector units.

The references to industrialisation are made in part II of the draft political organisation report in a section titled “The experience and role of the Left-led governments in the present situation”.

The report is expected to help the party manage contradictions between states where it is in power and in the Opposition and guide its governments in the context of the “neo-liberal policies” of the Centre.

Unlike political resolutions that are made public at the end of the congress, the contents of the political organisation report are usually not disclosed immediately.

“It is necessary to develop industry on the basis of agriculture growth,” the report points out before adding categorically: “Industrialisation is necessary for the balanced growth of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.”

The report specifically calls for a thrust on manufacturing and tom-toms Bengal’s success in attracting investments. “Many of the enterprises (unorganised small manufacturing units) cannot sustain and become sick or close down. It is necessary for the state to develop large and medium manufacturing enterprises. Due to the thrust given by the government, West Bengal has begun to attract large-scale investments for various industries,” the report says.

On “large-scale” land acquisition, the draft advises caution against the backdrop of Nandigram. “After the… political and administrative mistakes made, we must be all the more careful on large-scale land acquisition.”

Acutely aware of the need to protect the party’s image, the report adds: “While attracting corporate investment, we should be careful to see that they do not extract unreasonable concessions that go against public interest.… We should also tell the people that such private sector industries cannot solve the basic problems associated with the liberalised capital system.”

The report asks party-ruled governments to protect the “interests of workers”. It also wants Bengal to be made fully literate.

On big private investments in retail, the report says regulations can be framed and implemented through municipal corporations. “Both in Bengal and Kerala, this needs to be done.”