Is CPM losing its working class tag?

KOZHIKODE: How rich the CPM has become since the previous party congress held at Coimbatore? One has to wait till the party congress releases the credential report relating to its delegates to know the real facts.Even as there are widespread allegations relating to the dwindling  working-class character  of the party, the credential report  of the previous party congress showed that  there are 15 landlords in the party. Among the 718 delegates who attended the last party congress, the number of those belonging to the so-called ‘bourgeoisie middle class’ were 274, going by the credential report presented at the Coimbatore party congress itself. The total number of rich peasants (those holding  modern agriculture equipment) among the delegates were 33.The number of agricultural labourers who attended the Coimbatore congress as delegates was merely 29. The number of poor peasants among the delegates was 90,  while that of the middle class peasants was 149. The number of  those from the working class who were present at the previous party congress was 106. And here lies the catch. The total number of delegates who were present at the 10th party congress  from the working class was 220.Evidently, there is steady decline in the class-character of the  party even as it launches a frontal battle against the so-called neo-liberal economic policies of the UPA Government. According to an unofficial estimate, the assets of  the CPM in the country were fixed at `50,000 crores.