High drop-out of members worries CPI

The rising number of drop-outs from party membership and the failure to attract younger cadres and minorities into the party fold are proving worrisome for the Communist Party of India (CPI), as evidenced by the organisation report presented at the 23rd Party Congress which got under way here on Thursday.

The report notes that while the normal drop-out rate should be less than 10%, mainly due to death and transfers, it was increasing each year. Conversely, the addition of new members was slackening. “New membership should increase by 20% every year. If there is no 20% increase in new membership, [it means that] we are lethargic in enrolling new members,” it says.

In yet another candid admission, the report points out that though women constitute 50% of the population and at least 33% of the party membership should comprise of women, they made up only 17% of the party membership now. Similarly, though many party leaders, starting from the general secretary, came from the student movement, students constituted only 1.2% of the total membership. Similarly, the presence of minorities among the members was a low 10%. This should be increased to 15%, the report adds.

Indiscipline

The organisation report warns party cadres against ‘alien tendencies’ such as individualism, indiscipline, factionalism, departmentalism and opportunism creeping into the party. “Factionalism is weakening the party. This disease should be diagnosed in the primary stage and, through inner-party democracy, this can be cured. This needs urgent attention of the party... Factionalism is intelligently covered under the garb of political differences. Individual arrogance and intolerance of criticism also leads to factionalism,” the report notes.

The report regrets that some party workers and leaders were active only at the time of elections and were inactive at other times. Criticism, self-criticism and frank discussions were on the wane. There was also the tendency among many not to speak up frankly against the mistakes of leaders. Individualism, the report says, was on the rise with each passing day and collective functioning was diminishing.

The report tells cadres that the party was yet to learn the tactics of winning elections in a parliamentary democracy. “We are treating elections like any other normal activity without adequate preparations like voters’ enrolment and consistent house-to-house campaign, checking voters’ list till the last day, organising booth committees, etc. We are addressing only small group meetings, street corner meetings and distribute some 10,000 to 20,000 leaflets in a constituency of two to three lakh voters and expect that the people should vote for us. This attitude must change,” the report says.