The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in Thiruvananthapuram on January 28-30, 2024. It has issued the following statement on January 30

AYODHYA: TEMPLE INAUGURATION
The Temple inauguration at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024 has virtually sounded the death knell of secularism, defined as the separation of religion from the State, administration and politics. The whole programme was a State sponsored event directly involving the prime minister, UP chief minister, UP governor, and the entire State machinery. Both the president and vice president of India sent congratulatory messages to the prime minister variously hailing him as having ‘redeemed a pledge’, “India’s tryst with destiny in its civilizational trajectory” etc. The whole function was a direct violation of the fundamental principle of the governance of India as reiterated by the Supreme Court, which is that the State under the Constitution should have no religious affiliation or preference. 

This was an event directly aimed at political and electoral gains. The RSS/BJP mounted a massive nationwide campaign in the run-up to this event. Public screenings of the live telecast were organised at various places on giant screens. Educational institutions were closed for the day. All central government offices were shut till 2.30 pm in order to facilitate the participation of employees. So was the case with many public sector institutions and organisations including banks. It is planned to mobilise people to visit the temple from every state and parliamentary constituency. This will be spaced out till March 2024, i.e., till the eve of elections.

This event also signals that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 which mandates that the status quo of all religious places except Ayodhya, will remain the same as it was on August 15, 1947 will now be put in cold storage. The disputes in Kashi and Mathura have once again surfaced with a degree of judicial connivance. Modi profusely thanked the Supreme Court for its Ayodhya Verdict.

The CPI(M)’s policy has been to respect religious beliefs which are the personal choice of every individual. The Party has steadfastly upheld the right of every individual to pursue their faith. But at the same time it has consistently opposed the efforts to misuse and convert people’s religious belief as an instrument for political gain and merging religion with the State.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
In the last two rounds of the assembly elections, the BJP registered victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while Congress won in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana amongst the major states that went to polls.

BJP’s victories were mainly due to the consolidation of the Hindutva communal vote combined with a pernicious exploitation of caste sentiments.

Hindutva communal consolidation must be confronted in a forthright manner. The recourse to competitive soft Hindutva and pale saffron positions only lead to further strengthening the hold of Hindutva on significant sections of the people. This provides the RSS/BJP and all other Hindutva outfits the opportunity for further communalising the society and targeting the minorities.

BJP: BRAZEN MISUSE OF
ED AND MONEY POWER
Despite the blatant misuse of religious sentiments generated centering around Ayodhya and these recent electoral victories, the BJP appears to be unsure about the outcome of the 2024 elections.

BJP has resorted to brazen and aggressive misuse of the ED and money power to engineer defections among the opposition parties ruling in states and forging alliances with former rivals hoping to improve its Lok Sabha electoral prospects. It has done this earlier in Maharashtra, later in Karnataka, and now in Bihar the JD(U) has set an inglorious record of the largest number of flip-flops. Nitish Kumar was sworn in for a record ninth time as CM of Bihar, this time with BJP support. The people in these states, who had defeated the BJP, will teach such turncoats a lesson.

CAA: Since December 2019, the Modi government has not framed the rules under this Act. Now, on the eve of the general elections, it is pushing for its implementation with a view to further sharpen communal polarisation and hoping to reap electoral gains, particularly in Eastern India.

INDIA BLOC
Despite the JD(U) deserting the INDIA bloc and collaborating with the BJP, the CPI(M) will make all efforts to further strengthen this formation and continue the activities to defeat the BJP in order to safeguard the secular democratic character of our constitutional republic.

The focus is to complete the ongoing state level talks on seats sharing between its constituents at the earliest and then proceed to reach out to the people on the basis of core issues that are aimed at improving their livelihood and defending constitutional values.

KERALA
The Central Committee congratulated the people of Kerala and the LDF government for the highly successful programme of Nava Kerala Sadas. This is a unique programme undertaken by any state government in the country.

GOVERNOR: UNFIT FOR THE POST: The Kerala governor has over-stepped all boundaries with his constant political attacks on the elected state government and his grossly erratic behavior. The latest has been his sit-in on the Kerala roads ostensibly to protest against a perfectly democratic and peaceful student demonstration. In an unprecedented fashion he sought and procured protection from central security forces with the highest permissible security cover for himself. His statements like “beginning of the collapse of the constitutional machinery” are threats leveled against the state government which will be rejected outright by the people of the state. 

The Congress party is adopting a negative and anti-democratic approach to the LDF government and making baseless allegations against the chief minister. It keeps silent on the centre’s assault on the rights of Kerala which helps the BJP in its maneuvers against the state government. The people of Kerala will reject this disruptive approach of the Congress party.

WEST BENGAL: The Central Committee congratulated the youth of Bengal on the successful Insaf Yatra that marched across the state culminating in a massive brigade rally.

TRIPURA: The one-party dictatorial BJP government in Tripura is intensifying its fascistic terror attacks casting serious apprehensions for holding free and fair elections. The CPI(M) cadres are being targeted and this is being resisted.  

CC Calls
1.     All state units should continue to intensify the struggles against growing unemployment, price rise and assaults on people’s livelihood by the policies of the Modi government.
2.     Simultaneously with the protest dharna organised by the Kerala state LDF government in New Delhi on February 8 against the Modi government’s discriminatory policies towards Kerala and assaults on the rights of the states and federalism, all state committees must organise protest programmes in the states.
3.     The Central Committee expressed solidarity with the call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the joint platform of central trade unions for countrywide protest actions on February 16, 2024.
4.     Given the widespread concerns over the functioning of the EVMs, the Party will campaign across the country that there should be the following re-sequencing of the electronic units in the polling booths – voting units, control units and VVPAT. At least 50 per cent of VVPAT must be tallied with that recorded in the control unit.