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D Raja gets second term as CPI national secretary at party congress
D Raja, 73, who took over the reins of the CPI in July 2019 from Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy from Telangana, will will head the 11-member national secretariat of the party elected on Tuesday
HYDERABAD: Former Rajya Sabha member D Raja from Tamil Nadu was unanimously re-elected national general secretary of the Communist Party of India for the second term at the 24th national congress of the party at Vijayawada on Tuesday.
Raja, who took over the reins of the CPI in July 2019 succeeding Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy from Telangana. He will head the 11-member national secretariat of the party elected on Tuesday.
The other members of the national secretariat are Kanam Rajendran, Atul Kumar Anjaan, Amarjeet Kaur, K Narayana, Dr B K Kango, Binoy Vishwam, Pallab Sengupta, Nagendranath Ojha, Azeez Pasha and Ramakrishna Panda.
The national congress of the CPI also elected a 30-member national executive and a 99-member National Council. One position each in the National Executive and the National Council remained unfilled.
Raja, 73, told reporters that the party will go all out to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party. “We shall strive to bring about a unity among all secular democratic forces, including the Left parties and people’s organisations to achieve our common goal,” he said.
Raja also accused the Narendra Modi government of destroying the federal structure, saying this was evident from the confrontationist attitude being displayed by governors with the heads of the governments in the non-BJP ruled states such as Left-ruled Kerala.
He alleged that the governor’s position was being misused and the democratically-elected governments were being undermined. “This is very dangerous to democracy,” he said.
Raja said the CPI, which will celebrate its 100th year in 2025, has faced a string of electoral debacles and that this was a major area of concern. He said he will make sincere efforts to rejuvenate the party and strengthen the network from gram panchayat-level to Parliament.
“We shall continue to carry on with the task of building national movements and play a crucial role in raising the people’s issues,” he added.
