In ideological shift, CPI(M) plans to actively take part in temple festivals

Decision aimed at countering Sangh parivar’s dominance in temples, says Balakrishnan

March 23, 2022 04:06 pm | Updated March 25, 2022 09:44 am IST

CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan addressing the media in Madurai on Wednesday.

CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan addressing the media in Madurai on Wednesday.

In a major shift in its ideology, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is planning to take active part in temple festivals “to counter the dominance of Sangh parivar in temples and festivals”, said the party State secretary, K. Balakrishnan in Madurai on Wednesday.

CPI(M) had to take this decision in the changing environment and the party would discuss the issue in its 23rd State conference to be held in Madurai on March 30, 31 and April 1, he said. 

“We will take up various cultural aspects related to temple festivals,” he told reporters.

Mr. Balakrishnan said the RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party were putting up their saffron flags in all temple festivals and taking a lead in the conduct of festival. “We understand that merely fighting out the RSS and BJP on ideological lines will not help us. Hence, we need to fight them out in the cultural aspect too,” Mr. Balakrishnan contended.

Charging that the Sangh parivar was trying to convert common man’s spiritual sentiments into religious fanaticism, he said the Left party had to counter it.

However, Mr. Balakrishnan was quick to clarify that CPI(M) was not doing this for votes.

“We never seek votes based on religion and caste. The issue has come to such a situation that temples and festivals in Tamil Nadu which reflected secularism and religious harmony, were now in danger and to protect them, we have changed our stand,” he added.

Party national leaders, Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and other leaders would attend the conference in which 500 representatives of the party across the State would participate.

The conference would also discuss economic situation, saffronisation of education, adverse impact of price escalation of raw materials on small scale industries and consequent job loss and rising fuel prices.

Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan and party district secretaries M Ganesan and Rajendran were present at the press meet.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.