In an interview with The Indian Express, CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim said new challenges require a new approach. (Facebook/Salim)From data mining teams and task forces that will gather information to establish the party’s narrative to a focus on the youth, the CPI(M) has decided on some of the steps it will employ in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly polls in a bid to revive its electoral fortunes in a state it rule over for three decades.In an attempt to regain its foothold, CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim announced five initiatives during the special session of the party’s four-day state conference that concluded this week. These initiatives, sources said, would be named after party stalwarts Sitaram Yechury, Saroj Mukherjee, Pramod Dasgupta, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and Anil Biswas, and aim at helping the party grow with a “professional approach”.The main one will focus on cadre development while the other four will be for developing a research wing, survey and data mining, election management, and social media management. Sources said as a part of its revival mission, the party has also decided to constitute state-level and district-level committees with a “central research team” to monitor campaign material and social media initiatives. At the district level, the “task force” will undertake data management that will help in preparation for the campaign, while the “war room” will undertake data mining, campaign management, and election management. This would enable the CPI(M) to do micro-level Assembly constituency management and the reports generated would help it decide on the seats it needs to focus on.At the end of the conference, Salim said for the first time the CPI(M) might hire the services of a consultant for election management. In an interview with The Indian Express, Salim said new challenges require a new approach. “Our revival strategy involves a creativity-infused, technology-driven, knowledge- and data-based approach… Our new approach will result in a broader political understanding and a target-specific strategy,” he said.A delegate who attended the conference said the session showed that people now say that corruption was not rampant during the Left regime. “People agree that CPI(M) leaders are more honest than others but are not able to garner votes due to the absence of a strong organisation, among other factors,” said a delegate who attended the meeting,” the leader said.Also read | On revival mode ahead of Bengal polls, CPI(M) holds special session in state conference | Survey report, roadmap to 2026, and more discussed“Currently, our problem is our weak booth-level organisation, where we desperately want to increase our numbers ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. It is difficult to do this in all 294 seats but we are aiming to strengthen our party in at least 50. We need surveys and data management to identify these seats, and the initiatives will help us do that,” said an outgoing member of the CPI(M) state committee. Declining footprint of CPI(M)The leader said the party had learnt people’s opinion through surveys conducted in different parts of the state in the last three months. “We know the caste- and religion-wise distribution of the population and we will now undertake research to identify the best places to put up a fight in 2026,” the leader said.Story continues below this adAlso read | Salim continuum & new teams: How CPI(M) is planning its revival in BengalAccording to the CPI(M) leadership, a region-specific strategy and campaign can boost its prospects instead of promoting similar campaigns across regions. A section of the party leaders feels that Salim, who was re-elected to the post on Monday, will now focus his energies on bringing in fresh ideas to revive the party organisation at the grassroots, unlike in his first term when his emphasis was on bringing in fresh blood into the party leadership.Sources said it was decided at the conference that an analysis of each Assembly constituency would be sent to the leadership, based on which constituency-specific campaign material would be developed and campaigns would be executed accordingly.Another delegate who attended the state conference said the party would develop booth-level cadre through a special cadre development programme. “The cadre will be taught how to campaign and which issues to focus on, especially the issues that need to be raised at the local level in a particular area. They will also be apprised about how a person can be brought into the party,” Salim told The Indian Express.Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd