By Badre Alam Khan and Sanjay Kumar for TwoCircles.net
The current debate within the CPI (M) has generated intensive discourse on the dilemmas to formulate viable political strategies for defeating the BJP-RSS combined communal forces in the upcoming state elections as well as the Lok Sabha election of 2019. The CPM leadership is divided on the issue of forging an alliance with Congress. This came open in the recently held party’s Central Committee meeting in Kolkata with Kerala faction led by Parkash Karat (former General Secretary, CPM) opposing the idea and Bengal faction led by Sitaram Yechury in favour of it. The differences are largely driven by their use of words in describing the current dispensation. Earlier Karat has argued that nature of current dispensation could be characterized as a ‘Communal Authoritarianism’, while Yechury’s Bengal faction considers the present government as ‘fascist’ in nature. During internal debates, the majority of the member of the Central Committee (55) of the party has supported Karat’s political lines, that advocated the broader Left-unity and strengthening the extra-parliamentary politics. However, Keeping current political scenario in mind, Yechury and Bengal faction of CPM have argued that it is high time to support and forge alliances with secular and democratic forces like Congress to replace the BJP at Centre. While toeing the political lines of Yechury, 31 members of the Central Committee (mainly Bengal faction) have supported him during the internal debates regarding the tie-up with Congress. Finally, he said, “the final decision will be taken at the party Congress to be held in Hyderabad in April and electoral tactics will be decided depending on the ‘concrete situation’ in the states” (See The Hindu, Jan 25, 2018). Note that both factions have agreed that our primary focus must be to fight against the Hindutva forces in the upcoming 2019 general and state elections too. For Karat, it is not suitable option to forge electoral alliances with Congress to confront the current challenges in the Indian politics.
In this respect, the CPI (ML) General Secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya (Liberation) has put forth the view that the false binary drawn between Karat and Yechury is not the only viable option before the Left political parties. Dipankar in his recent article (See The Wire, 23 Jan, 2018) has said that keeping the current political scenario in mind, we have to move beyond the Karat and Yechury’s false debates, and stressed on creating – ‘powerful and independent assertion of the left’, to counter the growing ‘fascist danger’.
To illustrate arguments further, Dipankar said:
“This [Left]assertion perfectly consistent, must be combined, with a readiness to explore suitable electoral tactics in keeping with objective political conditions in different parts of the country and the Central objective of defeating the BJP and straightening the Left.”
To be brief, Dipankar argument is worthwhile to consider because the CPM and CPI alliances with secular forces, mainly with Congress had not actually benefited both the parties in terms of electoral politics at the Centre as well as in state assembly elections.
For instance, in the 2016 assembly election in West Bengal, the CPM and the Congress had fought together but seats were further reduced. It is to be noted that the Congress secured 44 seats and Left Front got merely 32 seats out of 294 seats. Compared with the previous assembly election in West Bengal in 2011, Congress won only 2 seats and Left Front lost 30 seats.
Therefore, one could argue that Yechury’s lines are not so persuaded simply because the alliance with a secular force like the Congress is a politically viable strategy to fight against fascist forces. However, we have to note that broader ‘Left-Unity’ is important but in the case of last Bihar assembly election 2015, its (Left-party) electoral performance were not so successful. It is here argued that even Dipankar and Karat political lines have also not able to curved out ‘political space’ in the arena of electoral politics.
Conundrum of Left parties
We have to accept the fact that debates around political tactics and ideological lines within the Left parties like CPM, CPI and CPI (ML) are worthwhile to explore in the context of growing challenges of the Hindutva forces. However, it is more important to politically articulate the emerging issues of toiling masses such as Dalits, women, tribals and religious minorities rather than only debating and defending party lines on the rigid ideological grounds.
After the rise of communal forces at the Centre since 2014, it must be underlined that Indian society has confronted several issues, which have not been properly articulated by the progressive Left parties. For instance, range of issues such as right to freedom of expression, attack on constitutional values, cow vigilantism, beef ban, attack on the educational institutions, love-jihad, issues of farmer suicides, violence against women and Dalits, communal attacks on minorities, mob lynching, speedy process of privatization, cuts of government sector jobs, labour issues, demonetization, GST, the controversy around releasing the film Padmaavat and lastly Bhima Koregaon etc. which have created great communal and social divide among the people of India. Yet, it is sad to note that on these above burning issues, mainstream Left parties have not successfully articulated and made them national issues. However, Ambedkarites group like Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, headed by Jignesh Mewani now MLA from Vadgam constituency of Gujarat and other youth leaders, such as Alpesh Thakur (newly elected MLA), Hardik Patel etc. have had launched movement and articulated said problems nationwide, which have also benefited electorally in the Gujarat Election of 2017. In short, we suggest that given the political context of the country, it is in our view, Left-unity or alliances with the so-called secular Congress is not the only viable political option to counter the rabid communal forces. Now it is high time to forge larger political solidarity with radical Ambedkarites forces led by Mewani and others.
Search for Radical politics
In this concluding section, we would like to say that we are not against the broader unity of the Left parties but, however, our concern is that unity must be based on the substantiate issues and problems confronted by the large section of oppressed masses, rather than endorsing rigid ideological framework. To be very precise, from Rohit Vemula to Bhima Koregaon, Dalits and Ambedkarites forces have articulated substantive problems such as caste atrocities, violence against women, communal attacks and mob lynchings of religious minorities especially Indian Muslims, issues of land distribution, the communal onslaught on the universities etc. in the public domain. It is interesting to note that most of these issues have been raised by students bodies of JNU, HCU, JMI and Ambedkarites forces led by Jignesh Mewani, Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakur etc. And that is why in the Gujarat state assembly election (2017), due to their protest and agitation, they have not only won assembly seats but posed severe challenges to the communal forces as mentioned above. So, therefore, taking Gujarat election experience into mind, left and progressive forces must not confine to the only ‘Left-Unity’ but also forge larger political solidarity with Ambedkarites forces on the basis of the agenda, which is confronted by the toiling masses to defeat the Hindutva brigades in the upcoming state elections as well as the general election of 2019.
Badre Alam is a Doctoral Student at Delhi University, and Dr. Sanjay Kumar is a Post- Doctoral Fellow at JNU, New Delhi.