CPI(M) West Bengal state conference begins

A four-day state conference of the CPI(M) in West Bengal commenced at Dankuni in Hooghly district on Saturday.The conference, which was inaugurated by CPI(M) central committee coordinator Prakash Karat, is likely to chalk out the strategy of the party for the next Bengal assembly elections to be held next year.

A public meeting will be held at Dankuni on February 25, the concluding day of the state conference, a CPI(M) official said.

The CPI(M), which led the Left Front in West Bengal to run the state government for 34 years till 2011, could not win any seat in the 2021 assembly elections in the state.

It could not win any seat, out of 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, in the 2019 and 2024 parliamentary polls.

The CPI(M) has been holding programmes and protests over several issues in the state, including law and order, alleged farmer distress and education-related matters, but electoral results in the form of seats in the assembly and the Lok Sabha from the state have been eluding it.

The ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP have cornered almost all seats in the state assembly and the Lok Sabha from West Bengal.

Party insiders said that long-term plans may be deliberated at the conference to regain the party's fortunes both in the electoral arena as also in regaining public support.