ON the occasion of the centenary of the death of Vladimir Lenin, the Andhra Pradesh committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held three seminars across Vijayawada, Guntur, and Anantapur to discuss the relevance of Leninism in contemporary India.The discussions addressed a wide array of issues from communalism and centralised electoral policies to economic inequality.

In Vijayawada, NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha emphasized the need to apply Lenin's method of "concrete analysis of concrete conditions" to gain a comprehensive understanding of contemporary issues. Speaking at the seminar held in Makineni Basavapunnaiah Vignana Kendram, he highlighted the threats posed by the BJP and RSS's communal ideologies, which aim to divide society and suppress dissenting voices, including those of Muslims and of the Left. He argued that such threats should be countered both philosophically and theoretically.

In Guntur, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member B V Raghavulu criticised BJP government’s ‘one nation, one election’ policy, asserting that it benefits investors while undermining democracy. He questioned the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections across various states when security forces are currently deployed from other states to conduct elections in one. He warned that such a policy could lead to dictatorship and drew parallels to fascist regimes. Raghavulu also condemned attempts to weaken regional parties through this policy, arguing that the central government’s efforts to standardise regulatory frameworks favour corporate interests over local markets and farmers.

In Anantapur, Professor V K Ramachandran, vice chairperson of the Kerala State Planning Board stressed that mere changes in power do not ensure an egalitarian society, asserting that fundamental changes in governance are necessary to achieve that goal. He noted that economic disparities in India have widened since the implementation of liberalisation policies in 1991, and have been further exacerbated by rising communalism. Citing UNESCO statistics, he pointed to high rates of child malnutrition in the country and called for an overhaul in governance to address such inequalities.

Speakers at these seminars called for a renewed focus on Lenin’s teachings to counter social and economic exploitation in India. They emphasized the importance of united struggles led by the working class. Various CPI(M) leaders and members participated in the seminars, reinforcing a commitment to addressing current challenges by applying Marxism-Leninism to understand their root causes and work for eliminating them.