VUnity of the left parties and their getting closely associated with people offering political and economic alternatives dominated a seminar on “Contemporary politics and the role of Left Parties” to mark the birth centenary of party stalwart and former general secretary Chandra Rajeswara Rao here on Thursday.
There was a need for introspection among left parties and admitting mistakes, if any. Earlier it used to happen but so far such an exercise had not been taken up with regard to the defeat in West Bengal where CPI was part of the Left Front, former MLA and senior leader Manam Anjaneyulu said.
He warned against saffronisation of education and suppression of Left movements by the NDA Government. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu should not be keen on borrowing development models but should do something on the conditions in the State, he said. He hoped that the policies of the NDA Government would bring the left parties together.
He recalled the ardent wish of Rajeswara Rao for left unity, his deep study and knowledge of various subjects, adherence to party line in spite of a soft corner for Naxalite struggle and his study of Indian culture and tradition and its epics, particularly towards the end of his life.
‘Identify with people’Former political science professor of Andhra University K. Venkateswarlu wanted cadre to identify with people, work on issues and win their confidence that they were nationalists interested in the well-being of people of the country. In the backdrop of globalization technology should be used to reduce drudgery and increase employment. Rajeswara Rao had consistently fought the danger from RSS, he recalled.
CPI State assistant secretary J V Satyanarayana Murthy pointed out the aggressive pro-corporate and anti-labour policies of the NDA Government being promoted as Gujarat model, investing State money for furthering interests of industry, increasing FDI cap in key sectors and injecting RSS ideology into education. There was a need for all the left parties to come together to fight them.
Visalandhra Editor Mutyala Prasad said Rajeswara Rao had always stressed the importance of interpreting Indian culture in terms of Marxist thinking, Left unity and taking the movement to rural areas. He had understood the importance of Ramanujacharya and Swami Vivekananda. Mr. Prasad said CPI needed to convince the middle class and neo-rich of the work of the party and effectively use social media. Party district Secretary A J Stalin presided.
