Communal politics is coming back in Bengal: Prakash Karat, CPI-M general secretary

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat is not a popular man among the secularists and leftists. But the CPI-M’s chief bureaucrat remains unflappable. In an interview with Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr, he analyses the defeat of the CPI-M and other Left parties and what he considers to be the way out of defeat.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q. How do you read the result of the Lok Sabha election in May? Has it left the Left in despair and in a mood of discontent? 
A. The victory of the BJP and the rightward shift that has taken place in Indian politics and it is a fact that the CPI-M and the Left have not done well in the election. So there is concern but it is not something to despair or to be demoralized about. We are undertaking an exercise in the party on how to overcome the present situation and to strengthen the party and the Left to face this right-wing offensive which is unfolding in the country. 

Q. Do you think that over the years this right-ward shift had been sort of emerging and unfolding and for some reason or other the Leftists and the secularists have not been able to read the signs and it sort of came as a shock and a big surprise?
A. The rightward shift has started taking place in the 1990s. Also, in the 1990s this right-ward shift consisted of two main streams. One is the neo-liberal economic policies and the second is the rise of the Hindutva forces. What we are seeing is the heightening of that phenomenon which already existed two decades ago.

Q. So it is not a surprise then...
A. In fact, after the 2004 Lok Sabha election and the 2009 election, our party had said that the BJP suffered an electoral defeat but the base and influence of the Hindutva had not diminished. So we should not underestimate its strength. 

Q. Do you think due to the political vacuum other parties are not able to fill and the TMC is faltering precipitously, there is a sign that the BJP is growing rather rapidly in West Bengal. Is it a matter of real concern for you?
A. In Bengal we have a peculiar situation where we have the ruling party, the TMC, which resorts to violence and terror tactics to intimidate the opposition, particularly the CPM and the Left Front. After three-and-a-half years of Trinamool rule they are getting discredited and there is popular discontent against the TMC rule. They are still maintaining their hold through a mixture of politics where they try to pit one section against another, use of force and coercion against the opposition. Because of five years of attack on CPM, it started in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, there are many places and areas in the state where we are not able to work freely, our cadres have been driven out, our supporters are intimidated. BJP is trying to enter into these areas. This is one aspect. The second is the Left had because of its strength and influence isolated contained communal politics and forces in Bengal over a period of more than four decades. Now communal politics is coming back. In this, both the TMC and the BJP are contributing to it. Divisive politics is playing a role and the BJP is cashing in on it. Whether it is a question of Bangladeshi infiltration, which has other social and historical aspects. For example, we had a large number of people from erstwhile East Pakistan or Bengal, Hindus who were once refugees and who have now settled down and are Indian citizens. Many old wounds are sought to be reopened. This sort of communal politics is being sought to be injected into Bengal. We have to fight not only against the TMC and its misrule. We have also to fight against the BJP. It is a difficult task. We have to fight on both fronts. We cannot just say that TMC is bad and we have to fight it politically. At the same time, we have to take on the BJP. 

Q. But are you in a position to take on the TMC and the BJP given the fact that you are politically at a disadvantage after the electoral defeats in the assembly and Lok Sabha?
A. Our main focus now is on how to strengthen the party by regaining the influence we have lost among the people, and how to ensure that there is a united left movement which can take up the issues of the workers, and all other sections of the working people. There is no short-cut. We were in government for 34 years. And people rejected us. We have to regain the confidence of the people. That can only be done through this work. That cannot be done by political and electoral manoeuvres. 

Q. Is there a need do you think that the ideological strategy needs to be reformulated because the situation has changed and perhaps there is need for new ways and new ideas to counter these right-wing tendencies?  
A. What we are undertaking now is how to formulate a political, tactical line which will equip us to face this new situation. With the advent of the Modi government there is a right-wing offensive underway in terms of economic policy, in terms of social policy, in terms of outright attack on secular values and institutions. We have to formulate the political line and mobilise the broadest democratic and secular sections of the people. We will work out a suitable line for that. 

Q. Is this work underway?
A. Our party congress is to be held in April next year which is a body which decides our policies, political programmes. We are working to that. In our party, there will be wide inner party discussions, we will prepare a draft of the political resolution and we will circulate in our party for discussion. The party Congress will adopt the final resolution. 

Q. Are there a lot of differences, from what we learn from the media, about the analysis and diagnosis of the situation?
A. There are two parts. One is we are reviewing our past performance in terms of how we implemented out political programmes. We are not doing for the current period, but a little way back, two-and-a-half decades. We are looking back to see what we have to learn from that experience. The political line and approach we adopted helped us in many ways to face some of the immediate challenges and threats. There may be shortcomings about the political approach and line. We are trying to identify that. That review is what we are undertaking now. Naturally, when we are looking at in depth is the experience of two-and-a-half decades there will be different viewpoints about that. We are going to complete that review by the next meeting of the central committee. There were different viewpoints.We have thrashed that out now. That was what was highlighted in the media – the differences. Yes. Different viewpoints were debated in the central committee. We have arrived at a unified understanding. The draft review report will be sent to the party congress which will be discussed along with the future tactical line. Both will be discussed in the party at all levels – performance and experience, and what the current tactical line should be. 

Q. The difference between you and Sitaram Yechuri – is it political or personal?
A. It is not a question of only two individuals. There are different viewpoints. This is what I explained to the media after the meeting.  Seven notes were submitted to the politburo. After discussions, politburo’s collective understanding was prepared but two individual viewpoints that differed were also included and sent to the central committee. We discuss different viewpoints and then come to a collective decision. We are not worried about divergent views expressed in the party. In fact, it is through that process we come to a correct understanding.  There is an understanding outside that the communist party is monolithic. We have inner party democracy. 

Q. Is the experiment done with the non-Congress, non-BJP parties being considered as an option?
A. It is one of the matters we have reviewed, our experience with that. It is a subject of debate whether that was correct or needed, and if there was another way we could have done it. All that is being discussed. 

Q. The market economies all over the world have been in some sort of a crisis. Do you think the Left parties have lost an opportunity of mounting a very strong critique against the system?
A. I think the Left has been one of the most consistent critics of the neo-liberal processes of capitalist development. And the 2008 global financial crisis confirmed or vindicated our critique of this finance-driven capitalism. In fact, we have tried to make this point that under the UPA1 government, India had suffered less from the after-effects of this crisis because we had prevented the government from completely opening up the financial sector. That is why, our banking system and financial system suffered less from this crisis. We have been trying to make this point. I think in India the question is still open, though the establishment, the powers that be, are adhering to the present model of development. I think gradually an alternative path, alternative policy, will come to the fore. Especially now we have the opportunity where we have a government which is recklessly going forward, aggressive pursuit, of neo-liberal policies. I am reminded of what happened with the NDA government. It will take time to register. They had followed a pro-rich economic policy, transferring resources from the poor people to the richer sections. Very soon the contrast will be seen. 

Q. Do you think that as there is left wing populism, not in the pejorative sense, there is also right-wing populism. Narendra Modi seems to be pursuing a right-wing populism which appeals to a larger section of the people. 
A. I would not agree with that. It is right-wing but it is not right-wing populism. The fact that the government is now trying to curtail the MGNREGA is going to be a serious attack on the livelihood of the rural poor. Classic right-wing economists would say this is populism, sops to the poor, a waste of money, resources going down the drain, and therefore it has to be cut. This government may keep middle class interests in mind but I think towards the poor, especially the rural and urban poor, this government is going to be the opposite of populist. 

Q. The Narendra Modi government took a tought stance over this WTO thing about subsidies, agricultural subsidies. What is it a sign of?
A. This government has already reversed the pattern of MSP, for example. This government has cut down has cut down the annual increase in the MSP. It has increased the MSP only by Rs 50 for rice and wheat. At the WTO it was a question of food security. They are now working towards curtailing that, cutting down on food subsidies. So, they have ostensibly taken a stance over food security and public stock holding. On the other side, they are reaching out to meet the demand of western countries that we stop subsidising food prices, stockpiling of food. They would like to go towards cash transfers rather than public distribution of food. The question is how far they will be able to go towards it This is going to be met with a lot of resistance. 

Q. The fact that the numbers of the opposition in parliament are so weak, do you think that this gives an opportunity to the government to do what it likes?
A. Yes, relatively. The fact that it has a majority in Lok Sabha gives it greater leeway. But the Rajya Sabha is still not under its control. I think the battle in parliament has to be waged. Despite weakness, the fight can be conducted. 

Q. Are you concerned with the decimation of Congress?
A. Well, it is something which is self-inflicted. It is for them to decide how they set the house in order. We could all see it happening. There was certain inevitability about it. 

Q. To what extent, the Left parties and others will be able to step into this space almost being vacated by the Congress?
A. We are hoping to expand the Left’s intervention and influence. That is why, we have started the process of bring about a wider Left unity and consolidation. There have been many Left parties and groups which have not worked together. We started with what we call Unity in Action. For the first time, six Left parties have come together. This includes the four parties of the Left Front, the CPI-ML-Liberation and the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI). They will conduct a joint campaign on nine immediate questions. We hope to widen this ambit of the Left. That will help us to project Left’s position more effectively and also intervene in movements and struggles.

Q. Do you consider the Samawadi Party and Janata Dal as part of this wider Left ambit?
A. That is another parallel process. The elements of erstwhile United Front coming together, we welcome that. It has a socialist component of the old days. If they can come together, we will be keen to work with them as a democratic force. It has to be seen how it emerges. As of now we are focusing on widening the Left ambit. 

Q. How about the speculation about the CPI and the CPI-M resolving the differences, or coming together, more closer than before if not a merger?
A. That is the point. Resolving the differences. We have had a history of differences – political, ideological. Some of those issues have been resolved. Our approach is not to start with the merger. That is putting the cart before the horse. What we are saying is closer cooperation, closer unity and working together. CPI, CPI-M’s close cooperation and unity will also help strengthen the Left as a whole and in that process in the future when we are able to resolve our existing and outstanding differences, we can go for higher form of unity. 

Q. Are they very deep, the differences? Or are they historical accidents?
A. Right now we do not want to dig up all that. Some of that had arose historically that has been resolved. We didn’t resolve it. History resolved it. The differences with regard to our attitude to the Soviet Union and policies of the Communist Part of Soviet Union. It does not exist now. These are things that have become irrelevant. But there are some things which need to be resolved. The CPI is still in the process of adopting a new party programme. Once it completes that work, it will help us see what is the programmatic basis 

Q. How does the China experiment look to the CPI-M?
A. I do not want to enter into it. It is a vast area. We have adopted a resolution in our last party congress and we had a lot of discussion on this aspect . We think that China has opened up and brought in changes and it has actually paid dividends in the sense that it helped China to develop its productive forces. It has also brought in new sets of contradictions in Chinese society. How they resolve these contradictions will be interesting to watch. We do not agree with those who say China is no more socialist. China has in a difficult world situation adopted a path by which they feel Chinese socialism can be developed and consolidated. It is not the traditional, conventional idea of how you go about it. We are not passing any judgment on that.