Page 37 - English Tehelka Issue 3&4

a “broader unity of Left and demo- to tackle BJP on its own. The citi- good but a poor, uneducated man poliTics
cratic forces including Congress”. zens in non-CPI(M) ruled states will who always voted his caste instead
This claim was also supported by not waste their vote in voting for a of casting his vote would be least in-
Thomas Isaac, the current finance party which they know cant repre- terested in understanding Marxist
minister of Kerala. All Central Com- sent their interests in Parliament. economics. In fact, people in some
mittee members from West Bengal, CPI(M)’s commitment to fighting states don’t even know what CPI(M) • Alliance proposal Yechury’s proposal for
Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, communal forces is nothing more is all about. a tactical understanding with Congress was
Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, than empty rhetoric. You cannot After ascent in the BJP’s fortunes comprehensively rejected
Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Kar- fight communal forces by weak- in the early 1990s, CPI(M) stalwarts
nataka, and Jammu and Kashmir ening secular parties. Considering Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Sur-
supported the Yechury faction. Also, the current political scenario, irre- jeet rightly perceived the Congress is ten times mightier than it was in
a few members from Tripura and spective of whether the Congress is as “the lesser evil” and left their old 2004 and it is not possible for the
three of the five members from genuinely against BJP’s policies or hostility towards the party. They CPI (M) to fight the BJP alone in the
Tamil Nadu sided with the Yechury whether it only differentiates itself understood the urgent need of all whole country without the support
faction. Yet, members from Kerala, for electoral gain, Congress is the secular parties to unite against the of a party like the Congress which
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar only party which has the backbone communal forces. It was this new has roots in all states. Interestingly,
and Haryana, sided with Karat and to defeat BJP. If the secular demo- approach that resulted in the Left in a major blow to Karat and his fac-
outweighed the interests of 13 states. cratic parties do not support Con- parties’ extension of outside sup- tion, CPI(M) leaders in West Bengal
Some leaders like Amra Ram in gress they will just end up dividing port to the Congress government have vowed to split the party this
Rajasthan, Mohd Yousuf Tarigami in the votes and giving the benefit to led by PV Narasimha Rao in 1991. year if the party would not approve
Kashmir, and unions like CITU and communal forces. Deeply shocked by the 2002 Gujarat an alliance with the Congress before
All India Kisan Sabha have retained Senior leaders in CPI(M) agree riots, the Left parties realised that 2019. If the broader coalition with
some grounds. But even members that the BJP-RSS is the “big - if these communal forces were not secular parties is not approved, they
of these organisations don’t find gest threat the country is facing stopped, they would pose a serious will have no other way.
much purpose voting for CPI(M) presently”,but this assessment is of threat to the social fabric of India. It On one hand, the CPI(M) central
when compared to any other na- no use if under the pretext of oppos- was this concern that made Surjeet committee’s draft resolution said
tional party. The world’s largest ing neo-liberal economic policies play a key role in the formation of that the main aim of the party is to
strike took place in 2016, when 180 the hardliner comrades are paving the first UPA government in 2004 “defeat the BJP” and it will spare no
million workers put down their way for the victory of BJP. Everyone in order to stop the BJP-led NDA effort in “mobilising all secular dem-
tools under the initiative of Left has had this issue with Indian com- from returning to power. After Sur- ocratic forces” in pursuit of this goal.
parties, but these workers will not munists that they only indulge in jeet had no choice but to resign due ty’s general secretary. He undid in CPI(M)’s And on the other, Yechury’s sensible
vote for CPI(M) because they know intellectual talk. Their idea of bring- to his old age and failing health, in just three years what his predeces- and practical proposal for a tactical
that it doesn’t have the capability ing about social change might be April 2005, Karat became the par- sor had painstakingly achieved over commitment to understanding with the Congress
several years, which was nothing but fighting communal was comprehensively rejected. If
photos: tehelka archives consolidation of secular forces. the Karat faction would not let the
• Tie up According to a Wikileaks report, forces is nothing general secretary work, then they
criteria Karat just 10 days before Karat became more than empty shouldn’t have taken an initiative to
and his faction the general secretary of the party bring Yechury as general secretary.
face split on April 11, 2005, then US ambas- rhetoric. You It is rumoured that Brinda Karat or S
in the party sador to India David Mulford had cannot fight Ramachandran Pillai might succeed
this year if it sent an extensive cable to Washing- Yechury as the next general secre-
doesn’t ton evaluating Karat and his party communal forces tary. A final decision on the party’s
approve tie up which said: “CPM icon Jyoti Basu (is) strategy would be taken at the April
with Congress concerned that Karat will not be as by weakening meeting. For CPI(M), which projects
adept at handling the Congress or secular parties itself as one committed to ideol -
even the Left Front coalition as well ogy, Karat’s line could be seen as the
as Surjeet.” politics of principle. But in today’s
Somnath Chatterjee, former Jyoti Basu to become the Prime political context, when the BJP is the
Speaker of Lok Sabha and parlia- Minister, followed by his decision of country’s dominant political force, it
mentarian who had represented withdrawing support to the UPA. might not be a practical position to
CPI(M) in Parliament for nearly four The Congress, the Samajwadi take. The Yechury faction is hoping
decades, claimed that Yechury had Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata for a turnaround in Hyderabad. If
been trying hard to put the pieces Dal (RJD) are only three other po- the party does not forge some fortui-
together, but there was a limit to litical parties in the country which tous alliance, it risks further aliena-
his tolerance. He further stated that haven’t had any kind of alliance with tion in Indian politics.
Karat’s victory was Modi’s victory. the right wing political outfit. For CPI
Under the previous general secre- (M), what remains is the SP and the The writer studies at Christ University,
tary, the party was on the course of RJD. The SP is in its weakest position Bangalore and has a keen interest
its extinction. All his decisions and ever in its history and RJD’s chief in politics. The views expressed
policies cost the party a lot. And it Lalu Prasad, meanwhile, has been are his own.
started when he refused to allow imprisoned in the fodder scam. BJP letters@tehelka.com

tehelka / 28 february 2018 36 www.tehelka.com tehelka / 28 february 2018 37 www.tehelka.com

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