Calcutta, May 21: Grey hair gained precedence over fresh blood during the formation of the CPM's highest policy-making body at the state level today as hopes of an organisational revamp under Sitaram Yechury, who was expected to be a harbinger of change, suffered a blow.
At a time the election-battered party is in need of fresh and young faces to counter the Trinamul Congress and make a comeback, the CPM packed its 18-member state secretariat with the old guard, shying away from an overhaul as demanded by a significant section of the Left party.
"We had expected a lot from Yechury. We had hoped that after taking over as general secretary, he would persuade leaders at Alimuddin Street to appoint new and energetic people to the secretariat. But that didn't happen. By siding with the Bengal leadership, he seemed to have repaid them for their support to his elevation to the post of general secretary," a CPM leader said.
Minati Ghosh, a member of the CPM women's wing, is the only new face in the state secretariat. Asok Bhattacharya, the newly elected Siliguri mayor, has been made a permanent invitee to the state secretariat although speculation had been rife that he would be included in the panel as a member. Birbhum district secretary Ramchandra Dome has also been made a permanent invitee.
"Being a permanent invitee to the state secretariat is as good as being out of it. Permanent invitees are toothless and do not have any say in policy-making. We needed to have a younger generation with new ideas and policies to re-establish our social connect," a CPM state committee member said.
Discontent was writ large on the faces of many state committee members during today's meeting when the CPM leadership sought a show of hands after announcing the new state secretariat, it was learnt. Nine members of the state committee, the highest decision-making body of the party at the state level, raised their hands in approval while seven others did not endorse the names proposed, a source said.
Sources said state committee members from Burdwan and North 24-Parganas refused to participate in the show of hands. The Burdwan leadership's contention was that its former district secretary, Amal Haldar, had not been given a state secretariat berth. The comrades from North 24-Parganas were said to be unhappy as women's wing leader Rekha Goswami and acting district secretary Nepaldeb Bhattacharyya had been ignored.
Haldar was not included in the state secretariat apparently because of his severe criticism of the leadership at almost every state committee meeting after the defeat in the 2011 Assembly elections. The leadership had also come down heavily on Haldar for deciding to pull out of the Burdwan municipal elections in 2012 because of alleged Trinamul terror.
Two other leaders who were expected to get state secretariat berths - Manab Mukherjee and Moinul Hasan - did not find place in the panel.
"The leadership has reservations about Manab. An inquiry commission has been formed by the party to look into Moinul's properties. That's why they were not taken in," a CPM leader said.
Rabin Deb was retained in the state secretariat although he had been questioned by the CBI in connection with the Saradha scam. "Rabin is Bimanda's (Left Front chairman Biman Bose) protege. That's why he remained in the state secretariat," a source said.
Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who has opted out of the politburo, and Bose will remain part of the state secretariat. Bose had earlier wanted to quit all party posts and work as an "ordinary comrade".
Many in the party questioned the continuance of Madan Ghosh, Nripen Chowdhury, Shyamal Chakraborty, Dipak Dasgupta, Mridul Dey, Dipak Sarkar and Sridip Bhattacharyya in the state secretariat as doubts exist on whether they can still deliver, the sources said.
A section in the CPM said there was hardly any justification in having two representatives from the party's Krishak Sabha (Ghosh and Chowdhury) and two from labour arm Citu (Chakraborty and Dasgupta) in the state secretariat.
Those who have been dropped from the state secretariat are former industries minister Nirupam Sen and the party's former Calcutta district committee secretary, Raghunath Kushari. While Sen was excluded because of ill health, Kushari had wanted to opt out because of old age.
"Dropping both of them was a mere formality," a leader said.
