Family gatherings have begun in Kozhikode district, Keralam, ahead of the three-day extended State committee meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], scheduled to be held in Kozhikode city from September 13.

The main agenda of the meeting, which is expected to have all the features of a State conference, according to sources, is to discuss the debacle of the Left Democratic Front and the CPI(M) in the recent Assembly elections and devise ways to rejuvenate the cadre. Deliberations on the issue have already been completed at all levels of the party, from the branch level to the State committee.

A review report brought out recently by the Central Committee, based on a report approved by the State committee, says that “party committee members at all levels were asked to speak freely and frankly, while the leaders from the higher committee heard their opinions without commenting.”

The sources say that State committee members from various districts and district secretariat members are now summing up the party’s final analysis of the results at the gatherings. Held under the aegis of the party’s 270 local committees in the district, the gatherings began on September 5 and will conclude on September 10. Members from families that are fellow travellers or sympathisers of the CPI(M) are attending them. Senior party leaders are being honoured, and cultural events are also being held.

Strengthening mass contact

Meanwhile, participants at the State committee meeting are expected to discuss ways to strengthen mass contact and improve the functioning of the party and its mass organisations. The agenda is also expected to include the mode of agitations against the Union government and its policies. At least five Polit Bureau members are scheduled to attend the session.

The CPI(M) has also announced plans to hold a massive rally featuring over one lakh people at Kozhikode beach to mark the culmination of the State committee meeting on September 15.

An organising committee led by P.A. Mohamed Riyas, Beypore MLA, and M. Mehboob, CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary, has been formed to oversee preparations for the three-day event.