Guwahati, Dec 31: With the 24th Assam State conference of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) scheduled to take place on January 5-7 next at Guwahati, the country's largest Left party has said that it will work to expand its footprint among the younger generation and focus on local issues.

In an interaction on Sunday, CPI (M) Assam State committee secretary Suprakash Talukdar said that the three-day conference will brainstorm on the party's strategies and chart a roadmap for the next three years, encompassing the forthcoming panchayat elections and the 2026 Assembly polls.

"We want to bring youngsters into our party's fold as well as into our frontal organisations. For that, we must take measures to spread the Left ideology and thinking among the youths and students and bring them closer to us. That will be our main target through the medium of our State conference. The youths and students are the future. Infusion of young blood will also revitalise the party as well as the broader Left movement in Assam. If we can attract students and youths then we will be able to bring about an overall change in the political narrative and discourse in the State," Talukdar said.

He admitted that the Left has lost a lot of ground in Assam during recent decades.

The Left parties, including the CPI (M), have very strict rules for granting formal party membership. Only those who actively work for many years in any of the frontal outfits are granted party membership.

'We want to bring youngsters into our party's fold as well as into our frontal organisations. For that, we must take measures to spread the Left ideology and thinking among the youths and students and bring them closer to us. That will be our main target through the medium of our State conference.'

"As such, we are not giving much importance to increasing membership at this moment. Our focus is on expanding the party's influence among the younger generations, particularly the students. If our influence expands then automatically party membership will grow as the number of dedicated Left activists will increase," Talukdar said.

District conferences of the CPI (M) were held in recent months. The total number of district committees of the party has now gone up to 29 from 27 earlier, with full-fledged units being formed for the first in Baksa and Charaideo.

"A prominent view that emerged among the dele gates during the district conferences was that local and community level issues must be highlighted while undertaking party activities. Members emphasised that the public is more concerned about

local issues that affect them on a day-to-day basis. Some blueprint in this regard is likely to be drawn up during our State conference so that we can focus on local issues seriously during agitations and mass programmes in the coming time," Talukdar said.

He also admitted that though the CPI (M) is vocal and at the forefront of the "fight against the policies of the BJP-led government", the outcome of such programmes does not get reflected in the electoral arena.

The CPI (M) has only a single MLA in Assam-Manorajan Talukdar from Sorbhog LAC. It also has only four MPs in the Lok Sabha (two from Tamil Nadu and one each from Kerala and Rajasthan), down from 43 in 2004.

"This happened because we have not been able to politically influence the masses among whom we are working and on whose behalf we are fighting. Our struggles have helped in the broader fight of the anti-BJP forces but have not benefited us in improving our party's own performance, especially in the electoral arena. That needs to be changed and that is why we must focus on local issues and attract the younger generations. BJP's main strategy is to create beneficiaries. We have to counter the BJP's game plan which envisions not allowing other parties a political space on the ground," Talukdar said.

He added, "The State conference will also witness de- liberations on the electoral strategy to be adopted by the party for the 2025 panchayat polls and 2026 Assembly polls. Other organisational matters will also be discussed."

Around 325 delegates from across the State will take part in the State conference. Former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and CPI (M) politburo members Subhashini Ali and Nilotpal Basu will also attend the three-day event.

A new State committee of the party will be constituted during the conference and delegates for the 24th CPI (M) party congress, to be held at Madurai in Tamil Nadu during April 2-6 next year, will also be selected during the event.

The State conference will commence with a public meeting at the Fancy Bazar Ferry Ghat, followed by other programmes at the Shilpgram in Panjabari.

Delegates from other Left parties like the CPI, CPI (ML) Liberation, and RCPI have been invited for the in- augural session.

The 23th Assam State conference of the CPI (M) was held at Silchar in February 2022.

By Pranjal Bhuyan