Former general secretary of CPI A.B. Bardhan said that the country’s politics had transformed from two parties to two individuals of late.
In an apparent reference to the Congress and BJP on the party front and Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi on the individual side, Mr. Bardhan said, at a meeting to mark the 88 foundation day celebrations of CPI here on Thursday, that there was no difference in the basic character of the Congress and BJP.
Both pursued neo-liberalism and had the same foreign policy tilted towards the United States.
The Congress was more or less secular, but the BJP was aggressively communal. However, a major section of the population in the country wanted unity among parties on the basis of secular principles.
The CPI will enter the general elections by trying to unite Left, democratic and secular forces though it was not an easy task due to the emergence of many competitors.
Mr. Bardhan hoped that the Communist movement will achieve unity unlike other parties as it presupposed a common approach to ideology.
The political, economic, social and moral crisis facing the country created an opportunity for Communists to come together.
He recalled that the Communists waged several democratic struggles for the unity of Left and democratic elements but, unfortunately, the movement split in the sixties. The general public visualised unity in diversity as the Communists were the most secular. “Let us be optimistic about our victory in this struggle if we are real Communists,” he said.
CPI State secretary K. Narayana said the government was in no position to check the activities of mafias involved in private bus transport, fish and liquor businesses. He denied that the Communists did not believe in democracy.
