At a time when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is debating its political tactical line that will determine its position under the Opposition umbrella, the party’s former general secretary Prakash Karat argues that there is no place for the CPI(M) in a Congress-led alliance. With the CPI(M) line to be decided at the crucial party congress in April 2018, he discusses the current political scenario, the challenge the Left faces in Tripura, and CPI(M)-RSS tensions in Kerala. Excerpts:
What is your overall assessment of the current political scenario?
The BJP, since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, has expanded its influence. It has emerged as the dominant political party at the all-India level, displacing the Congress. This is the new reality. However, in the last six months or so, we have seen increasing discontent among different sections of the people resulting in growing resistance and struggles. The widespread farmers’ struggles in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in this period are examples. You saw the ‘Mahapadav’ of workers in Parliament Street in Delhi, involving over a lakh workers, which was ignored by the media. There are the struggles of students in universities, of Dalits, etc.
So, we are at a turning point. While the BJP was at the peak of its influence, the seeds of opposition and resistance were also sown. This will be the beginning of a reversal. What is required at this juncture is to project a real alternative to the BJP, in terms of policies and ideology. This will help bring all the fighting forces together.
Do you see all the secular Opposition parties coming together ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, especially after the experience of the failed Mahagatbandhan in Bihar?
It is unrealistic to expect all the secular Opposition parties to come together for a grand alliance. The experience of the ‘Mahagatbandhan’ in Bihar is there. Without a clear-cut programme, Opposition unity will be opportunistic and unsustainable. There are differences and social contradictions among these parties. Uttar Pradesh is an illustration. Can we really think of an alliance between the SP (Samajwadi Party) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party)? There has to be unity between like-minded parties based on a common programme.
Can such a coalition be led by the Congress?
Some coalition, with the Congress leading, may be possible. But it won’t be an all-Opposition alliance. As far as the CPI(M) is concerned, we cannot be part of it. For us, opposition to neoliberal economic policies is as important as fighting communal forces. We cannot be part of an alliance with the Congress which stands for such policies. What is possible is cooperation in taking up specific issues inside and outside Parliament with secular Opposition parties. We can also forge wider unity for a broad platform against communalism.
What were the reasons for not attending Lalu Prasad’s ‘BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao’ rally this August in Patna?
The Patna rally was announced long before the JD(U) [Janata Dal (United)] left the alliance. It was meant to project the ‘Mahagatbandhan’ at the national level. We are not for this concept. For instance, Mamata Banerjee was prominent in the rally. Can the CPI(M) have a joint political platform with the TMC (All India Trinamool Congress), while they are suppressing democracy and playing a role in communalising politics in Bengal? Even coalition politics has to be principled politics.
Last year, you had said that the Narendra Modi government is exhibiting “authoritarianism”, not “fascism”. Do you believe that the situation has changed?
It is not what I say. Our Party Congress in April 2015 had warned that the advent of the Modi government ‘presages growing authoritarianism’. Now after three and a half years of that rule, we can say we are faced with an authoritarian-communal regime. It has been put in place. There are increasingly fascistic-type attacks that are bound to happen, given the fact that the RSS is controlling the levers of the BJP government. If you set it in the international context, there are a number of right-wing authoritarian regimes with ‘strong men’ ruling them. This is not fascism as such, but exhibits some of its authoritarian features including the targeting of the ‘other’ and ultranationalism.
The 2015 political resolution of the CPI(M) had stated that the main direction of the struggle is against the BJP. Have you succeeded in the struggle? If not, what do you believe is the key to dislodge the BJP-led government?
As I just said, there is growing resistance and struggles against the Modi government and its policies. Our main effort is to develop these struggles and widen their scope. It is through these mass movements that the BJP can be isolated and defeated. Unlike the non-Left Opposition parties, we believe that mere electoral tactics are insufficient to undercut the BJP. It is the extra-parliamentary struggles and movements that will matter.
In Tripura, along with anti-incumbency of 20 years, you are battling a strident BJP. How does the Left plan to counter both?
Tripura is a Communist stronghold. The Left Front government has been in power continuously since 1993, that is 24 years. Tripura is a well-governed State under the Manik Sarkar government. It has an exemplary record in implementing social welfare schemes, in becoming the most literate State, in providing the highest number of man-days of work under the MGNGREGA, and so on. Above all, it is the Left Front government which brought peace to the State by effectively countering the extremist insurgency, and maintaining tribal-non-tribal unity. So whatever anti-incumbency is there, it will be overcome by these positive factors.
The BJP has become the main Opposition by taking from the Congress and TMC MLAs and leadership. It is trying all methods to dislodge the Left — use of huge money power, encouraging the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura and tribal extremists to disrupt peace. But we are confident that the people of Tripura will see through these disruptive moves and reaffirm their confidence in the Left Front.
Why was the Left not able to build a credible protest against demonetisation despite controlling bank employees’ unions?
There is no connection between opposition to demonetisation and the bank employees’ unions. Demonetisation was a policy decision of the government which the banks had to implement. The bank employees worked hard to fulfil their duties. The opposition had to come from outside the banking sector. In fact, wherever there were mass protests against demonetisation, it was where the Left led them. Kerala is the best example — it saw widespread protests at all levels, with the LDF (Left Democratic Front) government itself taking the lead.
In 2011, Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, when asked to list the global events that had surprised him, counted the Left government’s defeat in West Bengal as one. What is the CPI(M) doing to resuscitate itself in West Bengal?
The Left Front government ruled in West Bengal for 34 years, winning seven successive Assembly elections. It lost in 2011 and in 2016. This is not just an electoral setback, it is part of a vicious anti-Left campaign in which the TMC has resorted to terror and violence to suppress the CPI(M) and Left.
We have been working to reconnect with the people and to lead struggles and campaigns of all sections of the people. We have also recognised some mistakes made, such as the land acquisition policy. Our priority is to win the people’s confidence and regain lost ground. That process is on. Only after that can we see it reflected in the elections.
The average age of leaders in the CPI(M) Central Committee is 60. Despite having a strong presence in universities, Left parties do not get the youth vote during polls. How do you explain this dichotomy?
It is not true that young people do not support the CPI(M) during elections. Otherwise, how are we winning in Kerala and Tripura and earlier in West Bengal? In many universities, Left student organisations have won students’ union elections. But it is uneven. In many places, the Left is not effectively reaching out to the youth. This has to be done.
As far as the CPI(M) Central Committee (CC) is concerned, by the time someone comes to the CC, it takes around 20-25 years of work in the party, either in the States or in the mass organisations. But at the State level, younger people are taking up responsibilities. Around 20% of party membership is below 31 years.
CPI(M) ranks are woefully short of women. How does the party plan to improve it?
Not woefully short but insufficient. More than 15% of party members were women in 2015. By 2018, we hope to increase it to 25%. One of the tasks we have set in the Organisational Plenum is to promote more women in the elected committees at all levels.
An unending cycle of political violence has been going on in Kerala. Both the RSS and the Left are blaming each other. Do you foresee a break in this cycle?
That will depend on the RSS changing its approach. People outside Kerala do not know that the RSS has been resorting to violent tactics for more than four decades, particularly in Kannur. They see it as a way to disrupt the Communist movement. After the BJP came to power at the Centre, they are highlighting the RSS-CPI(M) clashes. Even recently, the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram was injured in an attack by BJP councillors and RSS men. It is not in the interest of the CPI(M) and the LDF government to encourage violence. That is why the Chief Minister himself initiated talks with the RSS and BJP leaders on ways to end the conflict.
