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CPI(M) Scared Of Losing Relevance

By Arindam Majumder

25 December, 2013
Countercurrents.org

The Communist Party of India(Marxist) is once again treading the dangerous path of forming an opportunist alliance with the Congress in the next general elections. In the recently concluded Central Committee Meet in Agartala, party General Secretary Prakash Karat uttered the rhetoric of a ‘Third Front’, but in reality post- poll decisions of the Left has always been driven by political manoeuvres rather than principal. The party has time and again used the tried-and-tested rhetoric of ‘defeating communal forces’, to justify alliance with the Congress.

The opportunist politics of the Leftists traces its roots to the era of Jawaharlal Nehru. Ajay Ghosh, General Secretary of the undivided Communist Party started the culture political understanding between Nehru and the Communists. In the Indira era, many prominent communist leaders such as Shripad Amrit Dange and C.Rajeswara Rao walked in the same direction. Later after the formation of the CPI(M), the mantle of ‘congress-hobnobbing’ was taken up by Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Surjeet. In 1996, Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury were the main forces that shattered Jyoti Basu’s dream of becoming Prime Minister with ‘bourgeoisie’ Congress support. The same leaders are now laying down the path for an alliance with the ‘bourgeoisie’ party to ‘keep the communal forces at bay.’

The internal strife that began with the birth of the Indian National Congress and the self-obsession that started in the name of ‘national service’ spread its tentacles to the successive stages of the communist movement in India. Probably there was no rot in the roots. It was not wrong when Abani Mukhopadhyay went to meet Rashbehari Bose, because he found a way for revolution in the communist ideology. Nani Bhowmik in his novel ‘Dhulomati’ has arrested the story of that era- the era when extremists became communists. But when the possibility of a Congress-CPI(M) alliance surfaced after the 1996 general elections, there can be no moral explanation to it. It was a clear case of ideological bankruptcy. From 1996 a shameless procession of ideological destruction originated which has been continued by Buddhadeb, Karat and Yechury.

The struggle that Bankim Mukhopadhyay , Radharaman Mitra participated in, the communist party that was banned in independent India perversely deviated from its ideologies. During the food movement of 1966 Prafulla Sen, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal was termed as ‘Famine Minister’ by the Marxists. The same Sen, when he parted ways with the Congress and joined the Janata Party, was approached by Jyoti Basu and Pramod Dasgupta to form an alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.
It may be interesting to cast a look at the days of deviation from left and ultra-left ideologies. The strife between the CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML) is a well-known fact. The CPI(M) formed an alliance with Ajay Mukhopadhyay’s Bangla Congress in 1967. Then, they termed the CPI as Communist Part of Indira. 10 years down the line, CPI had become a part of the Left front. Can we call it a political alliance? Probably in the façade of India’s power-hungry multi-party political system it is a very normal affair. The dream of revolution dies in the guise of a happy coalition.

CPI(M) has always been unsuccessful to take on communalism and imperialism because it has always avoided to taking a consistent stance on these issues instead changing its stance according to its convenience. For instance in 1989, CPI(M) joined hands with the BJP to make VP Singh the Prime Minister; turning a blind eye to the fact that BJP was a communal outfit and was already spearheading the mandir frenzy. Later in 2004, CPI(M) supported the UPA government to keep out BJP. In opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI(M) had no other option but to withdraw support. They kept barking and postponing the bite until they had no more teeth to bite with. As for fighting imperialist policies, the CPI(M) vehemently supported the SEZ Act and tried to implement it at gun point in West Bengal.

The Communists are no more fighting an ideological battle, they are fighting to keep their relevance in national politics. So an alliance with the bourgeoisie, corrupt Congress in 2014- There is nothing new under the Sun!

Arindam Majumder is a student of Asian College of Journalism,Chennai. He writes for TN labour blog.



 

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