Comrades shore up on political capital

There was a time when we would go around with these hand-held loud speakers and announce that Comrade Bardhan would be making a speech this evening at so and so place.

It is another matter that Comrade Bardhan would making the announcement himself," chuckles the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Today, AB Bardhan is a busy man. The 19th Congress of the CPI will be held in Chandigarh between March 29 and April 3. Bardhan might regret that he cannot be at the venue with a hammer in hand to build the stage, put a few mikes in place and organise a speech like he used to do in the old days, but the fact remains that neither he nor his party needs to do things the old way anymore.

After becoming a de facto part of the government"" though they are "only lending the Congress outside support""" the Communist parties have most surely seen their stock go up. In terms of funding, this means that the five-day CPI event is being organised at a cost of more than Rs 50 lakh.

CPI Secretary D Raja, says the previous congress at Thiruvananthapuram in 2002 was also organised at the cost of "several lakhs".

However, this time round, coinciding with the congress, the CPI central office, housed in the three-storied Ajoy Bhavan in Delhi, has acquired a power-backup system at the cost of Rs 14 lakh.

"We have to make arrangements for living, food and transportation of about 700 delegates. Moreover the venues cost money," says a party source.

The CPI congress will begin with a massive rally at the Parade Grounds March 29.

On March 30, the opening session at Nehru Park will see leaders from the other Left parties, including Harkishen Singh Surjeet from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Abani Roy from the RSP and Debabrata Biswas from the Forward Bloc. From March 31 onwards, inter-party meetings will be held at Kisan Bhavan.

"However," adds the CPI source, "the Communists always manage to get discounts. Take the CPI(M), for instance. They will host the foreign delegates at Hotel Ashoka in Delhi," he reveals.

The CPI-M will host its 18th party congress, from April 6-11 in Delhi. The foreign delegates attending the CPI event will he handed over to the CPI(M) on April 4 for their congress, the CPI source says.

The mobile republic of the workers from all lands are set to unite in north India in a few days from now, as the two main Left parties hold their three yearly meetings to decide the future course of action of their parties.