Prakash Karat
THE 24th Congress of the CPI(M) is being held at Madurai from April 2 to 6. This Congress is being held at a time when quick changes are taking place in the international situation after Donald Trump took over the presidency of the United States. In India, the political situation is marked by the ongoing efforts to reinforce the authoritarian Hindutva-corporate regime under the BJP rule. The opposition to the Modi government and its pro-Hindutva-corporate policies has been strengthened by the united fight being put up by the working class, peasantry and sections of the working people.
In the short space of two months, the Trump administration has upended the “international order” that has existed under American hegemony during the last three decades. It is becoming clear that Trump with the slogans of `America First’ and `Make America Great Again’ has embarked upon a more naked form of imperialist aggrandisement. This is going to impact US relations with its close allies in NATO and Europe; there will be heightened hostile interventions against countries of the Global South like the case of South Africa and support to the worst genocidal actions of Israel against the Palestinian people.
The Trump Presidency will, hence, see an aggravation of all the major social contradictions including the inter-imperialist conflict which had been muted so far. The Party Congress will update its analysis of the international situation with these developments.
The link between this new aggressive role of US imperialism and India lies in the unstinted support that Narendra Modi and the BJP government has extended to the Trump regime even disregarding its hostile actions against India on tariffs and visas among other things. The Modi government and the BJP are firmly positioned in the far-right spectrum that has emerged globally. The eleven years of Modi government rule have resulted in the consolidation of the rightwing, communal, authoritarian forces with neo-fascist characteristics. The Modi government represents the alliance of the Hindutva forces and the big bourgeoisie. The political-tactical line which is based on this analysis makes it the prime task to fight and defeat the BJP-RSS and the Hindutva-corporate nexus underpinning it.
POLITICAL LINE
The political direction set out in the Draft Political Resolution for the 24th Congress sets out the following:
“2.86 Isolating and defeating the BJP and the Hindutva forces requires a continuous struggle against the Hindutva ideology and the activities of the communal forces. The Party must strive for the broadest mobilisation of all secular forces against Hindutva communalism.
“2.87 The success of the struggles against the Hindutva neo-liberal regime requires the growth of the independent strength of the CPI(M) and the Left forces. It also requires the integration of the struggle against Hindutva communalism and the struggle against neo-liberal policies.
“2.88 The fight against the Modi government and the BJP must be carried out by conducting class and mass struggles against the pro-corporate, neo-liberal policies which have intensified the exploitation of the working people and adversely affect their livelihoods and living conditions. The Party should be at the forefront in opposing crony capitalism, the loot of national assets and large-scale privatisation.”
Along with this, the CPI(M) will cooperate and work with all secular and democratic forces on issues of authoritarian onslaughts on democracy, use of draconian laws and efforts to subvert the Constitution and the institutions of the State. With this in view, the Party will work for the continuation of a broad platform of secular opposition forces like the INDIA bloc.
INCREASE THE INDEPENDENT STRENGTH OF PARTY
The Political Review Report prepared by the Central Committee on the implementation of the political-tactical line adopted at the previous 23rd Congress has highlighted the need and vital importance of increasing the independent strength of the Party. The Party Congress will be discussing this as the main issue because unless the Party’s independent strength grows, the BJP-RSS forces cannot be effectively fought.
Strengthening of the Party requires that work among the basic classes should be given priority. The struggles of the rural poor against exploitation by the rural-rich nexus must be seriously taken up. The Party has to expand its influence among the workers in the organised sector in the manufacturing and strategic industries and give importance to organising the contractual workers in the organised sector.
More attention should be paid to the independent political campaign and mass mobilisations around the political platform of the Party. There should be no blurring of our independent identity or diminishing our independent activities in the name of electoral understanding or alliances. Special attention should be paid to the ideological work and campaign to counter the ideology and activities of the RSS-Hindutva forces.
The importance of taking up mass and class issues for local struggles on a sustained basis has to be emphasized. The Party should directly campaign and conduct struggles on issues of social and caste oppression and gender discrimination. The struggles against social oppression should be linked with the struggles against class exploitation. It is necessary to attract youth in large numbers to the Party. For this, the political platform and demands should be so formulated as to be relevant to the youth.
STRUGGLES AND RESISTANCE
While the electoral battle in the Lok Sabha elections of May 2024 resulted in a partial gain for the secular democratic opposition, with the BJP losing its majority, the experience of the ten months of the third term of the Modi government shows that there will be no relaxation in its pursuit of the Hindutva corporate agenda. This makes it all the more important to strengthen and widen the resistance to the Modi government’s economic and pro-Hindutva policies.
The period since the 23rd Congress saw notable struggles and united actions of the working class, peasantry, women, youth and students. The 38-day strike of the Samsung workers in Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu was a shining example of a successful struggle against a giant MNC; struggles against privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and privatisation of power distribution entities are continuing. There were innumerable struggles of scheme workers in various states, many of which have achieved some gains. There have been struggles on issues like MNREGA, wages, land and house sites in various places.
The united platform of farmers – SKM – is continuing its struggle for a legal MSP and other demands. There have been struggles against displacement due to mining projects by adivasis and peasants. Women, students and youth have also been in the fray fighting on issues like food security, crimes against women, national education policy and unemployment.
In the coming days, the resistance to the neoliberal policies must be widened and intensified. Already the Central Trade Unions have called for a one-day general strike on May 20 against the imposition of the four anti-working class labour codes.
Party units must give more attention to politicise the masses who are being thrown into these struggles and who have become members of the class and mass organisations. The independent strength of the Party will grow only when large numbers of the militants and activists in the struggles are politicised and drawn into the Party.
The world is headed towards a more aggressive imperialism personified by the Trump Presidency. The Modi government is becoming a willing ally to its global designs. This makes it all the more necessary to step up the anti-imperialist movement in the country and to oppose the Modi government’s pro-US policies. Only the CPI(M) and the Left can undertake this task.
KERALA LDF GOVERNMENT
The LDF government stands out for striving to implement alternative policies to develop a “New Kerala”. This is being done in the face of the hostile and discriminatory attitude of the central government. The CPI(M) unit in Kerala is constantly mobilising the people in support of the secular-democratic alternative. The LDF government must be defended by mobilising all democratic forces in the country to support it.
BUILD POWERFUL ORGANISATION
The Party Congress will discuss and formulate the steps to be taken to streamline and expand the Party organisation in the light of the political and ideological tasks set out.
The 23rd Congress had set out certain organisational tasks: improving the quality of Party members; activisation of the branch, the primary unit; the branch – and adopting the mass line to enable Party units to take up class and mass issues and lead struggles. Emphasis was laid on equipping the Party organisation to take up the ideological work to counter the Hindutva ideology and activities. The work done on all these matters would be reviewed in the organisational report. The progress and shortcomings will be self-critically evaluated from top to bottom and the future tasks decided, which can equip the organisation to effectively discharge the political work, develop struggles and movements and wage the ideological battle.
The strengthening of the CPI(M) should go side by side with developing greater unity of the Left forces and going forward to forge a Left and democratic alternative. The Left and democratic platform has to be patiently built, rallying all classes and sections of the working people and the organisations representing them.
Let the 24th Congress become the platform for a rallying call to all Left, democratic and secular forces to come together and endeavour to fight back the dark forces of reaction and to open the way for an alternative path of development – on secular, democratic and progressive lines.
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