CPI(M) to undertake major organisational reforms at extended State Committee meeting in the shadow of mounting troubles

The extended State Committee meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] in Kozhikode from Sunday (September 13, 2026) was intended as a course-correction exercise, but it will now be held in the shadow of mounting troubles for the party in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) move to implicate Polit Bureau member and Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Pinarayi Vijayan and his son-in-law and State Secretariat member P.A. Mohamed Riyas in corruption cases. 

Ironically, the perceived “political witch-hunt” against its seniormost leader could be a rallying point for the party leadership, “but questions about fostering a personality cult, displaying imperious public behaviour and related aberrations will still be raised more vociferously than in the recent past,” a leader said. 

‘Band-aid on bullet wounds’

“The loss in party strongholds such as Thrikkarippur, Payyannur, and Taliparamba in the north only shows a diminishing respect for the organisational leadership and a vast section of lower-level workers wants major changes. Many believe there is no point in putting a band-aid on bullet wounds. Therefore, the meeting will, in all likelihood, initiate measures to bring in greater transparency and accountability on the part of leaders. The style of functioning of the party could change from high-voltage events to home visits and neighbourhood gatherings. A ‘mass line’, with an ear to the ground, is on the anvil,” the leader said. 

The meeting, another source said, would endorse reforms such as tasking individual district committee members with the oversight and guidance of local and branch committees. “Given the changes in social and class structures in the State, the style of functioning of class organisations will have to change too. The approach towards training cadres, scholastic right now, could be reoriented to addressing the social, class and demographic changes in localities,” he said. 

Polit Bureau exercise

The Polit Bureau (PB) has already undertaken an exercise to identify “parliamentary deviations, absence of collective leadership and lack of adherence to a mass line” among senior leaders in the PB and the Central Committee (CC) by circulating a detailed questionnaire. The review at the PB level is over, and the responses of the CC members will be reviewed at the meeting from October 9 to 11. The State Committees, which have been given the questionnaire, are expected to complete the process by December this year. 

“In view of the workload faced by local secretaries, who are full-time party functionaries if there’s no other full-timer on the committee, a major relaxation in the norm could be endorsed by the extended State Committee. This will allow people who are employed to work part-time as local secretaries,” said a leader. 

Rectification process

The extended State Committee will be followed by extended district committee meetings in October, which will also be attended by one of the three teams comprising CC and State Secretariat members led by PB members Mr. Vijayan; M.V Govindan, who is also the State secretary; and A. Vijayaraghavan. 

The rectification process will also involve measures to strengthen the unity of the Left front and devise campaigns to stem the growth of Sangh Parivar forces at the micro level through locality-specific interventions. There will be a periodic review of the action plan formulated at the extended State Committee, a senior leader added.