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How Lenin’s bust ended up at CPI(M)’s headquarters in Delhi
CPI(M) leaders commemorate the October Revolution by paying homage in front of a bust of Vladimir Lenin, the former Soviet leader who once headed the powerful Bolshevik Party, at their headquarters in New Delhi
For the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M), commemorating the October Revolution, the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, remains a must.
Its leaders do so by paying homage in front of a bust of Vladimir Lenin, the former Soviet leader who once headed the Bolshevik Party, at the CPI(M)’s headquarters in New Delhi.
That bust ironically also remains a reminder of the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Lenin’s shattered dreams.
The bust ended up at the CPI(M)’s headquarters ahead of the disintegration of the USSR in 1991 from its embassy in New Delhi. As it became clear that the USSR’s days were numbered, the embassy officials panicked. “Then CPI(M) Politburo leader Sitaram Yechury was at a get-together at the embassy when the diplomats expressed concern on what to do with the statute if the republic (USSR) disintegrates. Yechury wasted no time and offered to keep it in the party office,” said a CPI(M) leader, who did not want to be named.
See photos: Leftover monuments question Lenin’s waning legacy
The bust, carved out of white marble, was packed off a few days later to AK Gopalan Bhawan, the party’s headquarters.
“A few days later, Yechury got another call saying that a portrait, too, needs to be disposed of,” said the leader.
The life-size portrait of Lenin arrived soon. The bust remains at the gate of the CPI(M)’s central office while the portrait adorns Yechury’s office between former Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara and late CPI(M) leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet’s photos.
Lenin’s bust has become integral to the CPI (M) commemoration of the October Revolution, which is observed on November 7 as the first military parade took place on that day to mark its second anniversary.
On Sunday, November 7, CPI(M) leaders including Hannan Mollah and Nilotpal Basu paid tributes in front of the bust.
The CPI(M)’s base has shrunk drastically in India except for Kerala, which it rules. In the Bengal assembly polls this year, the party, which had ruled the state for 34 years, failed to win even a single seat. From 61 Lok Sabha seats in 2004, the Left parties now have just six members in the House.
