Md Salim elected new Bengal CPI(M) secretary, party replaces veterans in rejig

During the three-day state conference, 81-year-old Biman Bose expressed his wish to step down as chairman of the Bengal Left Front after serving the role since 1997. Bose was also the state secretary from 2006 to 2015.

Md Salim, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M), was elected secretary of the West Bengal unit on Thursday at the end of the 26th state conference that saw several old-timers in the state committee being replaced by younger people picked from the youth and students’ fronts.

Md Salim, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was chosen secretary of the West Bengal unit on Thursday. (HT FILE PHOTO.)

Salim, 64, a former state minister and Lok Sabha member, became the Bengal CPI (M)’s first Muslim secretary, replacing Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra, 72. The party formed an 80-member state committee.

During the three-day state conference, 81-year-old Biman Bose expressed his wish to step down as chairman of the Bengal Left Front after serving the role since 1997. Bose was also the state secretary from 2006 to 2015.

“I am quite old. How long can I continue? My new role will be to follow the decisions of the new leadership. Some people may have problems accepting that but I don’t,” Bose, who has no family and lives at the party’s state headquarters in Kolkata’s Alimuddin Street, said on Thursday afternoon.

CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who has been harping on the need to introduce younger people in the rank and file, was present during the state conference along with former general secretary Prakash Karat.

“Both Yechury and Karat said during our internal meetings that the need of the hour is to replace at least 40% old members in the state and district committees with younger leaders. That cannot be achieved as long as younger people are not groomed and projected. This, at least, is a good start,” a state leader told HT on condition of anonymity.

Several veteran state committee members, including Rabin Deb, Mridul Dey and Nepal Deb Bhattacharya, were replaced on Thursday by student leaders such as Palash Das, Sayandeep Mitra and Minakshi Mukherjee.

The CPI (M) and its Left Front partners suffered severe setback in all recent elections with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cutting into the vote bank.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP wrested 18 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats with a vote share of 40.7%. The CPI (M) could not win a single seat despite ruling Bengal from 1977 to 2011.

In the assembly polls held last year, the BJP won 77 seats of 294 seats and the CPI (M) could not win any seat for the first time since Independence.

Addressing the media after taking over as state secretary, Salim said: “The party has to turn around. We want new blood in the organisation.”

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar took a swipe at the CPI (M) saying Salim’s selection had much to do with the state’s 30% Muslim population.

“The BJP was never into this vote bank politics. It is the Left and Congress that always eyed minority votes to stay in power,” said Majumdar.