CPI State secretary underscores the need for Left unity and a broad front to resist fascism

Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Kanam Rajendran has said that the Left has no option but to walk the tactical knife-edge to defeat the BJP.

In an interview granted to The Hindu on the eve of 23rd CPI Party Congress beginning at Kollam on Thursday, Mr. Rajendran said the debate whether or not fascism is actually here had little meaning given the systematic attempts to undermine the Constitution and democratic institutions, overhaul the curriculum and divide the people on communal lines. “You cannot measure the advance of fascism in centimetres and metres,” he said. Excerpts from the interview:

The CPI(M) has had a tough time arriving at some sort of a consensus on its political tactical line vis-à-vis the Congress. What about the CPI?

The Left parties alone cannot resist the BJP at the national level. In Kerala, the Left Democratic Front is strong enough to do that. The fight here is between the UDF and LDF. And the UDF is led by Congress. If the LDF can on its own take on the BJP in Kerala, then it does not require the help of the Congress to do that. The situation is different from State to State and that is what the CPI’s political resolution says.

Electoral alliances happen at the time of elections. But the broad front to resist fascism is not an electoral alliance. That alliance should be flexible so that the Left would be able to garner maximum number of seats in each State, even as it resists the BJP. In the CPI resolution, there is not even a mention about Congress.

The discussion in the CPI(M) was not on how to unseat the BJP from power, but whether or not there should be a tie-up with the Congress to achieve that goal…

It was a case of the discussion having gone off the main track. In 2004, the Left parties supported the first UPA government. Why did we support the UPA at the time? Not because we were unaware of the economic policies of the Congress.

It was intended only to prevent the BJP from coming back to power. But, since we could not agree with the economic policies of the Congress, we insisted on a different set of policies and that became the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

All the good things that the first UPA government did and all the popular legislations it enacted were the outcomes of the Left’s initiatives.

They went by the CMP, so we gave our support to that government. Even as we supported the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, we fought against the Congress in the 2006 Assembly elections. Where was the confusion then? In politics, you must have a broad perspective. Our task today is to resist the BJP. If we don’t come together to resist the BJP, we may not be around to do so tomorrow.

This is not the time for us to debate and settle disputes about the economic policies of the Congress. So, to my mind, what has essentially happened at the CPI(M) Party Congress is this: leaders of from the grassroots, who know the pulse of the people, have discussed threadbare what was till then an academic issue and given it a practical conclusion. No big surprises there.

Congress has a pan-Indian presence and its policies are of prime importance. And then, there are the regional parties that hold sway in many States…

Let us first fight our main enemy, we can debate about our differences with the Congress later. The argument that we cannot say fascism is here since our democratic institutions are very much around means little. What is the guarantee for the longevity of the democratic institutions? Hitler also came to power through a democratic process. Fascism begins at the point where the democratic system, Constitution and secularism come under threat. You cannot measure its advance in centimetres and metres. Our history books are being rewritten, education system is being refashioned. All progressive measures brought in after independence are being overturned by the Modi government. Their attempt is to hand over control of all the institutions to the RSS and Sangh Parivar organisations. Can we assume that they have faith in democracy? Look at the way the RSS and the Sangh Parivar outfits were able to create a split even in the massive protest against the Kathua rape and murder. It is the RSS strategy to divide people on communal lines. This is what the SDPI is also trying to do.

What is the state of Left unity? When you talk about strategies to take on the BJP, isn’t the absence of Left unity a disturbing fact today?

That is true. The Left had succeeded in creating a strong platform of unity at one point of time. It is not there now. We have been focussing on this issue in our discussions on our upcoming Party Congress. For instance, after the debacle in Bengal and the assumption of power by the Trinamool Congress, we had tried to to take this idea forward. The SUCI, which had opposed the two Communist parties for over 40 years, came forward with the CPI(M) and CPI and we organised a joint Left rally. But now they are not ready to cooperate in the same way. The CPI(ML) Liberation had associated with the CPI and CPI(M) till the Bihar elections and we had fought the elections. But now they too are raising the question whether there should be any cooperation beyond popular struggles. Forward Bloc is with the UDF here and with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. They were with us in Bengal for long. In short, Left coordination has been non-existent for the past several years. What we have now are bilateral talks between the CPI(M) and CPI. That is not enough to create a broad Left unity. So, the centrality of Left unity in all our efforts to fight the BJP cannot be ignored. Being in the mainstream, the CPI and CPI(M) have the big responsibility to build that unity. National leaders of all Left parties are attending our Party Congress.