The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on June 07-09, 2019. It has issued the following statement:
BJP VICTORY
THE verdict of the 17th Lok Sabha elections has given the BJP-led NDA a larger number of seats and a larger vote share than it had won in 2014. This constitutes a decisive mandate in their favour. The rightwing offensive unleashed by the BJP during the last five years has consolidated with this mandate.
The BJP could successfully shift, post Pulwama and Balakot, the popular narrative away from the multitude of livelihood issues that the last five years of the NDA government had imposed. The new narrative of communal nationalist jingoism was aided by the build-up of the Modi persona through a combination of factors. Sections of the media partnered such a projection. The elections saw the unprecedented use of money power. Huge amounts were transferred to the BJP through electoral bonds. The role of the Election Commission was a contributory factor.
OPPOSITION PARTIES
Most opposition parties, barring those from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and a few other states, have witnessed a big loss in these elections.
The opposition parties, the Congress in particular, failed to put in place the unity of secular opposition parties that was being projected in the run-up to the elections. A campaign to safeguard secularism as against the communal offensive was not conducted. Soft Hindutva is not the answer for hardcore Hindutva. The ideological battle between Hindutva and secularism was not forcefully conducted.
SEVERE REVERSES FOR THE CPI(M) & THE LEFT
The CPI(M) and the Left have suffered a severe setback, particularly in their strongholds of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura.
Both in West Bengal and Tripura, the elections were held in an atmosphere of intense terror and violence. Five CPI(M) activists in West Bengal and one in Tripura lost their lives in such violence. The polls were largely rigged in Tripura West constituency, Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal and vitiated in many others. The Election Commission could not implement its assurance to conduct “free and fair polls”.
The Central Committee discussed the preliminary review conducted by these three state committees. A detailed booth-wise review is ongoing, on the basis of which the final experiences will be evaluated.
In these elections, the CPI(M) had called for the defeat of the BJP and its allies, increase the strength of the Left in parliament and for the establishment of an alternative secular government at the centre. This mandate has negated these objectives.
The voters in Kerala felt that the Congress will be in a better position for the formation of an alternative secular government which resulted in sections of secular-minded people and minorities voting for them. The correct stand of the LDF government which was bound to implement the Supreme Court judgment on Sabarimala was utilised by the BJP and UDF to create misgivings amongst a section of believers. The Party will make all efforts to bring back these sections into our fold.
In West Bengal, elections were held in a highly polarised atmosphere. The media played a big role in building a binary narrative that aided such polarisation between the TMC and the BJP. The communally charged campaign further polarised the voters. There was a high anti-incumbency against the TMC. The CPI(M) and the Left Front were not seen as the alternative and this led to a shift in a section of our traditional votes. The Congress’s refusal to accept the Left’s proposal for maximising the pooling of anti-BJP, anti-TMC votes bolstered this binary narrative.
In Tripura, one of the two seats was by and large rigged. In the reserved ST seat won by the BJP, the Congress came second.
In both these states as well, the Party committees are evaluating earnestly the erosion in our traditional support base and will draw up urgent steps to be undertaken to bring these sections back into our fold.
Outside of these strongholds, the CPI(M) won both the seats it contested as part of the DMK led electoral alliance in Tamil Nadu. In all other states, the CPI(M) contested independently. In Dindori constituency in Maharashtra, the CPI(M) polled, among the seats it contested, the highest vote of 1,09,570.
In the elections to the state assembly of Odisha, the CPI(M) retained its sitting MLA in Bonai with a vote that was over 20,000 (34.67 per cent) higher than last time.
The Central Committee noted that the independent strength of the Party and its political intervention capacities continue to be weakened. The Central Committee discussed various factors that have contributed to the deepening of such a trend and worked out immediate organisational and political steps that would be undertaken by the Party to arrest and reverse this decline.
POST-ELECTION CHALLENGES
The Central Committee concluded that the country and the people must brace themselves for the imminent challenges that are bound to be mounted by this decisive BJP victory. The Central Committee noted four such challenges.
a) The BJP has won this decisive victory on the basis of unprecedented money power and full support of the international and domestic corporates. The trajectory of anti-people economic reforms favouring the big business and the rich are bound to intensify by imposing greater miseries on the vast majority of the people. The Party will take the lead in rallying the maximum sections of the people in struggles against such economic assaults.
b) The consolidation of the Hindutva communal polarisation will lead to greater attacks on the rights of the religious and linguistic minorities, worsening their security concerns and livelihood. The safeguarding and strengthening of secularism, as enshrined in our constitution, will be taken up by the Party drawing in the broadest sections in these struggles.
c) The penetration of the RSS in all constitutional authorities that happened during the last five years is bound to further intensify. This will lead to undermining such constitutional authorities in order to facilitate the transformation of the constitutional republic into the ideological project of the RSS, “Hindutva Rashtra”. The defence and strengthening of all constitutional authorities will be championed by the CPI(M) along with all other forces willing to join these struggles.
d) The focus of the BJP’s victory was based on the need to establish a ‘security’ state in India, the infringement upon the rights of individuals specifically the right to dissent will sharpen. Already ominous indications are evident. The assaults by private armies under one pretext or the other against dalits and religious minorities will intensify. The rights of working people and religious, linguistic minorities will come under attack leading up to witch-hunting. The CPI(M) will take the lead in mobilising the broadest segment of our people who cherish democratic rights and civil liberties to meet these challenges squarely.
TASKS
The Central Committee adopted a number of measures and tasks in order to meet the serious situation due to this setback for the Party.
Specific measures have been decided upon to deepen links with the people and to strengthen the activities of various fronts.
Specific attention will be made to integrate the struggles over the livelihood issues with the struggles against social oppression – SCs, STs, minorities and women.
The Party will conduct a review of the implementation of important decisions regarding the Party organisation and its functioning adopted by the Party Plenum in Kolkata in 2015. On the basis of this review, which will be completed by the states by the end of August, the future course for strengthening the Party and galvanising our cadres will be undertaken.
The experience of these elections shows the need for far reaching electoral reforms with the urgent need to reform the Election Commission. The CPI(M) will mobilise all willing sections of the political spectrum to ensure that the election commissioners will be appointed by a collegium led by the president of India rather than by the government of the day.
On the various complaints regarding the neutrality of the EVMs and the doubts over the possible manipulation of these machines, the CPI(M) will conduct a study of such reports and, in consultation with other political parties, will decide on the future course of action.
The Central Committee condemned the threatening calls made to secular intellectual Dr Ram Puniyani post-elections.
The Central Committee expressed grief over the suicide of a young ST post-graduate medical student, Dr Payal Tadvi. She was driven to commit suicide as a result of caste harassment. The state government of Maharashtra must take firm action against the culprits and those generating such hate campaigns.
Secularism versus Hindutva is the Ideological Battle Line
THESE are the words of Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M) while speaking in a press conference at Delhi on June 10, while summing up the decisions of the Central Committee of the Party, which met from June 7 to 9. The answer to communalism and the campaign unleashed by the BJP and the sangh parivar is secularism and the tenets of it have to be strengthened by the Left.
He conveyed heartfelt condolences to the family of Girish Karnad at the inception of the press conference.
While explaining the reasons for the success of the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections, he said that the there is a decisive mandate to the BJP but which is the outcome of a post Pulwama-Balakot strike and a new narrative was developed that centred around ‘communal nationalist jingoism’, which was aided by building the persona of Modi. Fight against terrorism and communal polarisation was roused for the unity and to build an overarching Hindu identity. It helped and this could cut across the various social groupings and ethnic divide amongst the people in the country. Money power and even sections of the media also helped in this exercise. The electoral bonds explain the direction of the flow of money in the elections. The BJP was the main beneficiary.
Sitaram also explained the role of the Election Commission and said that “we will talk to other opposition parties and will seek to reform the election commission so that it can play a neutral role. We demand that the election commissioners must be appointed through a collegium appointed by the president of India and not through an executive order.” He said that electoral reforms are direly required.
He termed the victory for the BJP as ‘big’ and stated that the Left suffered a big setback. But far from being exterminated, as a section in the media is claiming about the future of Left, the Left will arm itself both ideologically and politically. He said the “right wing offensive can only be countered by a Left-wing counter political offensive.” And for that, a class alternative has to be built which can ideologically counter the right-wing offensive; the CPI(M) will work primarily to build this alternative. This alternative will define what modern India stands for. This positioning shall include, stand towards the constitution of the country; for democratic rights of the people, which will and is already under attack. He said already threat calls have been made to intellectuals in the country. He said integrating the struggles on the issues of economic and social problems will be a primary task for the CPI(M) and the Left. He gave the incident of Dr Payal Tadvi in Maharashtra and explained that this is not an isolated case; rather under the present regime such incidents are on the rise. The Left will have to raise a counter offensive to it. The programme of action is to galvanise the entire Left. There shall be greater unity among the Left forces to try to build a counter Left Political offensive to the right-wing offensive.
He said serious discussion was undertaken in the CC, which will be further consolidated after three months after the completion of thorough discussion in all the state committees on the implementation of the decisions of the Kolkata plenum.
Sitaram explained the four important post-election challenges that are posed to the people and the tasks forthwith. These are: (a) Economic hardships will increase; maximum sections of the people will be mobilised. (b) Communal polarisation will lead to greater attacks on the sections of minorities; on the issue of Secularism broadest sections will be drawn. (c) RSS penetration will further intensify in constitutional bodies; defence of such bodies will have to be championed. (d) The right of dissent will be attacked; issues of democratic rights and civil liberties will be raised strongly.
While replying to a few questions raised by the media that will the CPI(M) support President’s rule in West Bengal owing to large scale violence unleashed; he said that the Party does not support it and that the CPI(M) has opposed the use of article 356 in the country to dismiss the elected state governments. He said the imposition of this section was first used against the Left led government of EMS Namboodiripad in Kerala.
On another question of merger of communist parties and a resolution of the CPI, he said there should be more coordination among the Communist Parties. He said soon there will be a meeting of the Left parties to chalk out a strategy for more coordination amongst the Left parties to build people’s struggles. He said instead of discussing the merger, more coordination among the Left forces is the immediate task that the Left has to undertake. He further said, “As the right go strong, as a national corollary has to be that the Left will also have to counter and become strong. We will strive for that.”
He said secularism versus Hindutva is the ideological battle line. The Party will focus in that direction.
