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Support to Congress to be issue-based, not electoral: Sitaram Yechury

What the Left preached, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) practised.

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What the Left preached, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) practised. This was the view of several CPM leaders at its recent Party Congress. Indicating a willingness to redefine the Left’s definition, the CPM has decided to turn its focus to the aspiring middle class, youth and mass based activities.  

During the nine hour debate at the CPM conclave on the draft political resolution, several members from various states pointed out that the AAP had used the Left slogans to reach out to the poor and middle class, according to sources. 

The party’s new general secretary Sitaram Yechury is now faced with the challenging task of reversing the CPM’s waning spree. “Given the situation that the party is at its lowest strength in Parliament and West Bengal assembly, the priority would be to arrest and reverse the decline,” Yechury told DNA.

He said the first step towards this would be to develop the CPM’s independent strength and see that it reflected in Parliament. “The focus would be on developing and unleashing mass mobilisation against communal forces and neo-liberal economic agenda,” Yechury said. 

For this, the party is planning to revamp its organisational structure. A party plenum in Kolkata later this year will undertake this task, while the party discharges its role in Parliament and organises people’s struggles on the streets, Yechury said.  

In the cadre based party, where the politburo is the highest decision-making body, the change of guard was unlikely to alter the core ideological or tactical line. However, sources said a prominent party face could help in the CPM’s expansion plans, outside its strongholds like Kerala and West Bengal, and could have a traction among the youth.  

The party, which has stuck to its dogmatic approach to economic issues over the decades, seems to be losing its connect with the youth. In the ageing party central committee, there is no member below 50 while only a couple of them would be under 60. 

Yechury, considered a moderate with a softer approach towards Congress as against his predecessor Prakash Karat who was seen as an ideological hardliner, said the CPM will work with Congress and other parties but it would be issue-based. “On issues which effect people, we are ready to go with all parties. Whether it is Congress or any other party, the support will be issue specific and not determined by electoral considerations,” he said. Yechury recalled that 14 parties had united against the land acquisition bill and approached President Pranab Mukherjee.

Asked if Congress vice-President Rahul Gandhi was speaking the language of the Left, he said “it is good if they are taking our position. But, these policies were first championed by the Congress and at that time we opposed them.”

The CPM, however, seemst to be making alterations in its approach. At the meeting, the party discussed the significance of civil society associations and NGOs and was of the view that the party should connect with them for issue-based broad alliance, like on the land bill, sources said. This, too, is a lesson the party learnt after Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement.

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