Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has said that the alienation of the people from the state has weakened socialism and called for a renewed thrust on social democracy.
Speaking at a seminar organised by the CPI(M) Guntur district unit to mark the centenary celebrations of October Revolution, Mr. Yechury said socialist democracy was the need of the hour in these times in countries which have been following socialist democracy. People have the resources as well the freedom to buy.
“In the Capitalistic democracy, you have all the resources, but there people do not have power to buy these resources, while in social democracy, people have the power as well as the resources to buy what they want,” Mr. Yechury said.
Dwelling on the state of present day politics, Mr. Yechury said the trend of dictatorships in governments failed to yield the desired results, as dictatorship has often led to leadership squabbles resulting in distortion of the system.
“Most of the developed countries are reeling under centralisation of Capital accumulation, a threat voiced by Marx and Engels many years back. The October Revolution was a warning of the times to come,” he said.
Stating that the October Revolution was a defining chapter in modern history, which had given shape to a unique labour-peasant alliance, Mr. Yechury said it had led to establishment of communist regimes in the then Soviet Union and China.
The Bolshevik Revolution which commenced in Soviet Union in the year 1917 was a milestone as it brought about a unity of poor peasants, agricultural labour and industrial worker.
Though socialism has heralded participatory democracy and gave more powers to people, it has to face the brunt of continuous attack by Capitalistic forces. Socialism also created a movement for building a caste-less society from being a caste-based society, he added.
Former MLCs MAS Sarma, K.S Lakshmana Rao and district CPI(M) secretary Pasam Rama Rao were present.
