Mamatha
The Political Review Report and the Draft Political Resolution of the 24th Party Congress of the CPI(M) were placed by Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau and Central Committee Coordinator of the Party. The Political Review Report was adopted by the Central Committee in November 2024. Based on this, the Draft Political Resolution was prepared and circulated for discussions among the entire Party rank and file.
Prakash Karat mentioned that this was for the first time that the Political Review Report was adopted before the Draft Political Resolution was taken up. In all previous Party Congresses, the Political Review Report, as part of the Organisational Report, was placed only after the adoption of the Political Resolution. The review would traditionally come after the political resolution, a sequence that was followed for a long time. However, it was felt that this was not the correct approach. Since the new political tactical line is shaped based on the review of the previous one, the Central Committee, in its June 2024 meeting, discussed this matter and decided that the review report should be completed first, followed by the draft political resolution. Both are now being placed together, as they are interconnected. These documents have been discussed at all levels of the Party, and we have received amendments and suggestions, which will be taken up shortly.
A key concern prevailing now within the Party is that we have not been growing as we should, nor increasing our independent strength, as outlined in the Political Organisational Report. While reviewing the implementation of the political tactical line, it is clear that the line itself is correct, but there have been certain challenges in its implementation which need to be addressed. Successive political resolutions in the last three Party Congresses emphasised the need to increase our independent strength, particularly to halt the declining mass base of the Party.
In our review, we observe that the political tactical line set at the Kannur Congress emphasises the primary task of isolating and defeating the BJP. It said that this objective must be actively implemented by rallying wider secular forces, ensuring broader mobilisation, and forming broad platforms to achieve this task. This task has been successfully pursued, resulting in the BJP losing its majority for the first time in the last three consecutive Lok Sabha elections, in 2024. However, the tactical line adopted at Kannur outlined a dual responsibility: first, to effectively fight against the BJP, and second, to do this, we have to simultaneously strengthen the independent strength of the Party. The review concludes that while we have made some progress on the first front, we have not been able to significantly enhance the Party’s independent strength. The review emphasises that unless both aspects—resisting the BJP and strengthening the Party—are pursued together, the Party cannot advance and fight the BJP effectively.
Enhancing the Party’s independent strength requires the development of class and mass struggles. Despite some efforts, these struggles remain insufficient at the national level. This issue has been examined in detail. It is not that we did not engage in such struggles—we have had struggles for housing sites, for land, for wages, for roads, buildings, and more. However, we found that the necessary momentum to intensify and hold these struggles in a sustained manner was lacking.
In rural areas, a significant contradiction exists. On one side are poor peasants, agricultural workers, and rural workers; on the other, a rural-rich nexus composed of landlords, capitalist farmers, rich peasants and entrepreneurs exists which exploits the rural poor. Local struggles must be directed specifically against the exploitation imposed by this rural-rich nexus.
Our studies indicate that the agrarian situation is undergoing significant changes. The Kolkata Plenum called for a detailed study of the socio-economic transformations that have occurred over the past three decades under neoliberal policies. These shifts—marked by new forms of exploitation and changing class relations—demand a thorough analysis to develop appropriate slogans and tactics for both the Party and the class and mass organisations.
A major factor contributing to the lack of effective local struggles is the pervasive influence of Parliamentarianism, which tends to neglect grassroots class and mass issues. Addressing this will be crucial if we are to build the independent strength of the Party. The third factor is that bourgeois parties, including regional ones, serve as representatives of the rural-rich nexus.
Regarding specific sectors and issues—particularly the working class—our overall political influence among workers has declined. While some progress has been made in organising contract workers, this area requires greater attention and focused intervention.
A major long-standing weakness is the lack of politicisation work among the masses drawn into the Party through struggles. Without sustained political and ideological work among these masses, Party consolidation remains unattainable.
Our primary task, as outlined in the Kannur Congress Political-Tactical line, is to isolate and defeat the BJP. However, this was never meant to be limited to electoral arena alone. A critical challenge remains: how to counter Hindutva and the broader ideological forces underpinning it. The 22nd and 23rd Party Congresses identified countering Hindutva as a key task, emphasising the need for an ideological struggle against Hindutva, which is a political project of the RSS that has gained significant ground.
Unless we engage in multifaceted struggles against Hindutva—in the ideological, social, and cultural spheres—and unless we identify the specific areas and sections of society where the RSS has expanded its influence, and develop effective countervailing work to wean them away from it, we will not be able to isolate and defeat the BJP. Recognising and targeting these sections with sustained counter-mobilisation is essential for advancing our movement.
We have not been able to fully equip our Party to carry out the necessary political, ideological, and organisational work required to implement our tasks. For decades, our primary struggle was against the dominant bourgeois-landlord party, the Congress. We have rich experience in fighting Congress, but today, the major bourgeois-landlord party is the BJP, backed by the RSS, which operates as a fascistic organisation. However, we have yet to come to grips fully on how to comprehensively counter the BJP and the RSS. This weakness is reflected in our failure to effectively implement the last political tactical line.
It is not enough to just call for the fight against Hindutva, and the strengthening of the Party’s independent base—these goals must be taken seriously and internalised. The RSS has been systematically utilising religion and religious faith to communalise society, instilling deep-seated anti-Muslim prejudices. In this context, religiosity is not only rising among Hindus but across communities, creating fertile ground for both majority and minority communalism. Our economic struggles alone are insufficient to counter the influence of Hindutva ideology and minority communalism. The political, ideological work in all spheres is required. We must make concerted efforts to reach the masses, particularly in northern and western India, where the Hindutva ideology has already deeply shaped public consciousness.
How do we address this challenge? The fight on economic issues must be complemented and supplemented with sustained political and ideological work. Without this, our political tactical line will remain unfulfilled. This is the key imperative. Unless we intensify our political and ideological work, we will be unable to effectively counter the Hindutva-corporate nexus, making our fight against it both inadequate and incomplete.
We have experience in forging broad platforms of secular forces against Hindutva and authoritarianism. The Hindutva-corporate alliance has become the foundation of the rightward shift in our country. While we mobilise against neoliberal capitalism, we must simultaneously fight against Hindutva. The integration of these two struggles is essential, and mastering this integration remains a crucial task. Though we have made some progress, much more needs to be done.
In the draft political resolution, we acknowledged that Hindutva is aggressively pushing forward neoliberal policies through increased authoritarianism and neo-fascist tactics. For the first time, we have explicitly described this phenomenon as "neo-fascist." The Central Committee has also recommended an explanatory note on this term to accompany the political review report. Globally, far-right forces are on the rise—in Europe, North America, South America, and parts of Asia. This phenomenon is directly linked to the crisis of neoliberalism.
To strengthen our movement, we must attract more youth, including those from our core working-class base. Politicisation of the working class, focused work in residential areas, and building Left unity are essential for constructing a broader platform of resistance.
Prakash Karat then presented a report on Pre-Congress amendments. A total of 3,424 amendments and 84 suggestions were received. Of these, 133 amendments were accepted—85 related to the international section and 48 to the national section.
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