THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central Committee’s resolution ruling out any form of electoral understanding or adjustments with the Congress is a political blunder more serious than the one the party committed in 1996.
A close analysis of the prevailing political situation would show why the latest CC resolution is a bigger blunder. If the 1996 folly denied Jyoti Basu prime ministership and the CPI(M) a historic opportunity to script a paradigm shift in Indian politics, the 2018 blunder would prove more dangerous, given the alarming growth of the fascist forces led by the BJP-RSS combine.
Being the leading left party in the country, the CPI(M) should have taken the initiative to forge a broad-based anti-BJP platform that could stop the march of the fascist forces. But the party has failed the nation and, in the process, given the RSS-BJP combination a big boost with calamitous consequences for the country.
The victory of the Karat line, backed to the hilt by the powerful Kerala Lobby which is calling the shots in the CPI(M) these days, constitutes a serious setback to the efforts for opposition unity at the national level.
The development cannot but gladden the BJP-RSS hearts. The news from Kolkata must be music for the saffron camp. No wonder, the BJP-RSS leaders are literally grinning from ear to ear, savouring the ‘political gift’ from the CPI(M).
Obviously, the Kerala Lobby has rejected the Yechury line, blinded by its virulent anti-Congressism of the 1960-70s’ vintage. Like the Bourbons of Europe, the CPI(M) in the state has learnt nothing from the past mistakes. And have dismally failed toimbibe the grim portents emanating from the sea-change the political situation has undergone over the decades. The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala lobby has opted for an anti-Yechury stance only to further its narrow political interests, ignoring the disastrous consequences such a political line could inflict on the secular-democratic fabric of the nation.
The CPI(M) must realize – and realize fast – that such negative tactics could actually backfire. If the Kerala leadership thinks that by saying a firm No to an understanding with the Congress, the party would strengthen its position in the state, they are living in a fool’s paradise. If anything, it would, infuse new life into the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF), which is unraveling with the exit of parties like the Kerala Congress(M) first and that of the Janata Dal (United) recently.
The CPI(M) satraps should not forget that the party-led Left Democratic Front(LDEF) stormed into power ousting the UDF because of the solid support of the minorities, mainly Muslims and, to some extent, the Christians. The Christians and Muslims then felt, rightly so, that the CPI(M) was exhibiting greater stomach and chutzpah to fight the RSS-BJP duo than the Congress which was perceived to be wanting in the task of battling the fascist RSS-BJP combine.
That situation has become a thing of the past. The CPI(M)’s refusal to have an understanding with the Congress for fighting the communal forces has sent shock waves among the minorities in the state. The anger and dismay of the minorities could cause a massive drift away from the LDF to the Congress-led UDF, fetching the latter handsome electoral gains in the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
However, the Kerala CPI(M) is indifferent to the distinct possibility of a minority shift to the Congress camp, weakening the LDF in the state. If that contingency arises, then the CPI(M) would suffer further marginalization not only in the state but also at the national level, dealing a debilitating body blow to the laudable goal of opposition unity.
All is not lost yet. The secular forces which set great store by the need for an all-embracing unity against the RSS-BJP combination, are hoping that the CPI(M) party Congress to be held in April would turn the tables against the Karat line. And hope, as the saying goes, sustains life. (IPA Service)
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