Key Points

“The total number of such stalls this year will surely cross 2,000 across the state, with the number being a record 119 in Kolkata,” said Robin Deb.

Durga Puja is the time for public relations exercise for the party, which runs temporary book stalls on Communist and Marxist literature near major community Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata. A state committee member of CPI(M) in West Bengal said that this time attempts have been made to set up stalls adjacent to pandals even in the different localities, lanes and by-lanes in the city.

“Our party had been running temporary book stalls during the Durga Puja days to connect with people and encourage them to buy and study Communist and Marxist literature. This year, we have taken a special drive to reach out to a larger number of people by opening additional stalls in different pockets of the state, with the focus being Kolkata as well as the major urban pockets in the state,” the state committee member said.

He added that a variety of books were displayed at the book stalls this time. “Besides traditional Marxists and Communist literature, special emphasis has been given to push the literary works by the two of your recently deceased leaders, namely the party’s former general secretary Late Sitaram Yechury and the former West Bengal Chief Minister Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,” he said. He claimed that the experiment of the party was successful, with the sales figures being impressive.

He said that the enthusiasm among the young readers for purchasing the literary works by Bhattacharjee and Yechury had been noticeable this time.

He further pointed out that the book stalls this time have been managed in such a manner that at no point in time has a single stall remained unmanned. “Posters were prepared for younger comrades to attend each book stall on a rotational basis, to ensure that no reader coming to the stall returns unattended,” said the state committee member.

- IANS