How CPI(M) Politburo rejigs point to winds of change: Ramchandra Dome to Jitendra Chaudhury

During the CPI(M)’s 24th Party Congress held earlier this month in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai, Chaudhury was one of the eight new members inducted into the new Politburo.

According to CPI(M) leaders, Chaudhury’s induction is a part of the party’s process to induct leaders from “diverse social backgrounds” into its Politburo. “The party is making a conscious effort to reward leaders from diverse social backgrounds. Caste and gender are also considered as they are social realities today,” a senior CPI(M) leader told The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity.

While Ramchandra Dome became the first Dalit leader to be elevated to the Politburo at the CPI(M)’s 23rd Party Congress in 2022, party insiders claim more Dalits, Adivasis and women would be inducted into the Politburo in the coming years. Currently, the 18-member new Politburo has two women – Mariam Dhawale and U Vasuki.

For Chaudhury, who has been associated with the CPI(M) since his student days, the elevation has not come as a surprise. “I was associated with the Students Federation of India (SFI) since Class XI and subsequently got associated with the party’s movement,” he told The Indian Express.

After leaving the CPI(M) for a brief period to take up a job at the World Bank, Chaudhury returned as a full-time party member in 1981. “I was only 25 years old in 1983, when I contested the Assembly election from the Manu seat but lost. Five years later, I lost again but by a narrow margin of 159 votes. My failures were key to my success in the 1993 elections,” Chaudhury, who went on to represent the constituency for five consecutive terms between 1993 and 2013, said. He also served as a minister in successive CPI(M)-led Tripura governments during this period. In 2014, he won the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat.

Born to parents who were CPI(M) leaders, Chaudhury, who was encouraged to join politics from an early age, said he quit his job at the World Bank to “serve the people”. “I joined the CPI(M) as a full-time member when the Left began its new journey in Tripura, where the state adopted alternative policies to ensure people get maximum benefits,” he said.

For more than two-and-a-half decades, Chaudhury was up against the insurgency that affected Adivasis in the region. “I knew I had to be more involved with the community to deal with the challenge. This thought process shaped my political life,” he said.

Currently, the president of the Tripura Rajya Gana Mukti Parishad – the CPI(M)’s Adivasi wing in the state – and only the third leader from the North-east to enter the Politburo, Chaudhury considers his elevation as a “matter of merit” and a consequence of “regional considerations”. “The share of leaders from Kerala in the party is more. Hence, they have a greater representation in the Politburo. However, the (Communist) movement, its legacy and prevailing circumstances along with social, cultural and regional considerations are also taken into account while choosing members of the Politburo,” he said.

Asked if he would represent his state’s Adivasi community and the North-east in the Politburo, Chaudhury said, “It could be one of the considerations.”