More than 1.5 lakh new members joined the DYFI in Bengal in 2021, the same year when its parent organisation CPM failed to win a single seat in the Assembly polls.
According to a report presented by the DYFI at its national conference that concluded at Salt Lake on Sunday, the exponential rise has taken the total number of members in the state close to 30 lakh.
“In the past three years, almost 2 lakh new members joined us. This is the result of our continuous struggle for youth rights,” state DYFI secretary Minakshi Mukherjee said.
From 27,14,919 members in 2018, the DYFI registered 29,13,960 members in 2021. Of the 1,99,041 new members registered since 2018, 1,57,588 joined the outfit last year.
The induction of new members has been the most remarkable in three districts —Malda, Murshidabad and Hooghly, sources said. Each of these districts has recorded close to 10-15 per cent jump in membership last year.
DYFI leaders claimed the achievement to be significant since the growth came in a year when the Left came up with its worst-ever electoral performance in Bengal. It is the result of the collective thrust that the CPM has put in bringing young faces to the forefront, a DYFI leader said.
“It is also a proof that the young populace of the state has identified the organisation as a platform that speaks in their favour,” the leader added.
“In 2021, the Trinamul Congress received en masse votes because the primary target of the people was to resist the BJP. Yet, simultaneously our membership has gone up proving that the state’s youth believes that only we are fighting for long term solutions to their problems,” a source said.
The source said that two major factors had contributed to the jump in DYFI’s membership. First, the laudable job by the SFI (CPM students’ wing) and DYFI members during the Covid-19 pandemic as Red Volunteers has renewed the common man’s trust in them.
Second, the DYFI has consistently focussed on issues related to youths that includes unemployment and corruption in government recruitments. The DYFI, along with the SFI and other Left outfits, has continuously organised multiple rallies demanding employment opportunities from youths. Maidul Islam Middya, a DYFI activist, lost his life after being allegedly injured during a police crackdown on a rally heading towards Nabanna in Calcutta in February last year.
“Other political parties and their youth wings are busy spinning propaganda against each other. Their narratives shift the focus away from real issues like employment and corruption indulged by ruling parties in government appointments. The DYFI has been on the streets fighting on issues affecting youths,” a DYFI activist said.
The DYFI has 96,39,216 members across the nation. The report says that more than 91 per cent of new members in 2021 have come from Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where 1,41,910 fresh youths have registered with the DYFI.
New DYFI secretary
Himaghnaraj Bhattacharya was on Sunday elected the new national general secretary of the organisation on Sunday. He replaced another leader from Bengal, Abhoy Mukherjee, to head the organisation.
