Sitaram Yechury, the new General Secretary of the Communist
Party of India (Marxist) aka CPM, if we go by his name, should be a darling of
the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak volunteers whom the youth cadres of the CPM, DYFI
(Democratic Youth Federation of India) have been fighting in the streets for a
long time. When the right wing fellows see each other they greet the other with
this exhortation, Jai Siyaram. The new GS of the CPM has it in him; Sitaram.
Siyaram is a complete man, the Lord Ram with his consort Sit/ya. When Sitaram
speaks, the right wing fellows cannot just avoid him; how can they defile the
lord’s name? His wife misses the honour by a letter; she is Seema Chisti.
Had the ‘m’ been ‘t’, there would have been a major crisis in the
confrontational politics between the right wing forces and the left wing
parties led by the CPM.
Political pundits say that the left parties have made
themselves irrelevant in today’s politics as its erstwhile strongholds like
West Bengal and Kerala have already gone to Trinamool Congress and the UDF
respectively though the history of Kerala’s assembly elections shows that the
CPM led Left Democratic Front would come back to power invariably not because
they are too good to be avoided but because there are lesser chances of other
political alternatives in Kerala thanks to its peculiar political, religious,
caste and regional equations. Punjab was another place where the CPM could have
thought of staging a better performance but with the AAP touching the root base
there, the CPM needs a different approach. The party’s political relevance has
been that of a negotiator between the warring factions of the erstwhile Third
Front. Now as the chances are gone though the Janata Parivar once again wants
to be united and pitch for power in the coming assembly elections in Bihar and
in UP before they could throw their hat in the ring for the distant Lok Sabha
elections in 2019.
(Jyoti Basu, he could have changed the course of Indian political discourse if he was allowed to become the PM of India in 1996)
‘Historical Blunder’, that was how late Bengal Chief
Minister and much revered leader Jyoti Basu observed the toppling of the
chances of him becoming the Prime Minister of India as a consensus candidate in
1996 by his own party. History of India would have been different had Basu
assumed the role of India’s Prime Minister. The economy that had opened up in
1991 would not have been reversed even if the Third Front was consolidated
under Jyoti Basu and such a political and economic discourse would have created
a strong opposition in the parliament in due course of time. What AAP would do
later in 2013 could have become a reality at least one and a half decade
before. A Communist becoming the Prime Minister of the country could have given
a new impetus for the CPM to grow nationally with strong representatives coming
up in every state supported by lower and middle class cadres and intelligentsia.
It would have considerably checked the growth of the right wing fundamentalism
in the country. But the theory of equi-distance from all kinds of religious and
political formations proved to be a dampner for the CPM. As it was the big
brother amongst the smaller left formations, they too could not have followed a
different line.
The blunder of the CPM is both ideological and pragmatic.
Ideologically, it detested the upper class and wealth while secretly enjoyed
the possibility of being in that upper position. The left front under the CPM
drew its cadres mainly from the lower middle class and the middle-middle class,
feeding them with the idea of class revolution. Often this progressive
political outfit used the cadres as cannon fodders than real decision makers.
The ideological confusion was palpable amongst the cadres for over two decades
as they did not know whether to move towards the open market or completely
object it. As everyone is primarily a human being with familial
responsibilities and social responsibilities, like any other members in a
surviving group they too started looking for easy ways of making money. The
recent declaration by the party leadership that the cadres are indulging in
liquor and other anti-social activities and also the strong erosion of cadre
base in the states like Kerala and West Bengal shows that the cadres are really
confused. While the their leaders fight for supremacy like they do in any other
party and enter in business deals with film stars and business tycoons, the
poor cadres are relegated to the level of mere audience, if not agitators in
the streets.
Speaking on the pragmatic front, the CPM followers are no
longer led by any egalitarian political ideology. They are led by one single
agenda; getting into power. This craving for power is different from the demand
that Edassery, the poet had forwarded in his poem. When the Communist party was
struggling for the rights of the downtrodden, the poet said that before we
reaped the harvest of rice, let us harvest power. Political power was the need
of the time to change the life of the downtrodden and bring about social
changes. But for the last few decades, the CPM was engaged in power politics
right there within the party itself. The bottom to top approach was thwarted
for top to bottom approach. In due course of time, the CPM itself started
estranging those ultra left wing forces that demanded equal rights and justice.
By becoming a bourgeoisie party, the CPM lost the sympathy of the middle class.
Religion was another sensitive point where the CPM failed pathetically. While
the party spoke of equi-distance (even today it talks about it) two decades
back, it did not tell its cadres how it was going to tackle the growing right
wing fundamentalism in the country. Religion remains to be a sensitive issue as
far as India is concerned and unless and until the CPM leadership tells its
cadres what to do with it, it is not going to grow it base. The cadres are
confused as they see the CPM leaders sharing platforms with religious leaders
to appease the voters from those religious categories. They are really confused
about their own religious identities and it is evident in Kerala streets where
you cannot distinguish between a RSS agitator and a DYFI or CPM agitator. They
almost wear the same uniform, saffron lungis and chequered shirts. This
sartorial confusion also translates into both ideological and pragmatic
confusion.
(Route March of RSS Volunteers)
Sitaram Yechuri has a major task in his hands if he really
wants to revive the dying left parties in India. I am not a political pundit to
elaborate upon the available data and also I find it tedious and boring as far
as my purpose is concerned. My aim of writing this is to tell Mr.Yechuri how he
could turn the party around and create mass base by slowing erasing the fear
about communism and communists and also by slowly erasing the lethargy and
cynicism that have crept into the very core of the CPM cadres. The only face saving
group that still holds the CPM ideology or the communist ideals is the
intellectual class of this country to which I also have a virtual membership.
As a humanitarian and one who believes in the socialist theory of unto the last,
I adhere to the left political theories than those of any other political
outfit in this country. AAP is a possibility and it is still a possibility for
so many people like me. The intelligentsia however is an oscillating class.
They like to be with the cream and the sublime things and people and at the
same time they want to be with the milling and toiling masses. They cannot do
it on the ground because they have other avenues of consolidating their ideas.
They need a platform, a political outfit that would give them confidence to
express their ideas. The CPM should become that platform. It cannot be elitist
when it comes to the centre or in the business avenues, and later go and preach
social revolution to the public in street corners. People have lost belief and
interest in that. People would trust Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai than Pinarayi
Vijayan or Prakash Karat.
(The Architects of CPM's failure in Kerala, V.S.Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan)
Ideological and pragmatic clarity is what the CPM cadres
expect from Sitaram Yechury as the new general secretary. One cannot mechanically
quote from classical Marxist text books and play vote politics. It will not
work for long. If Tripura is the last bastion and Kerala is a possible come
back platform, both are not going to be lasting for ever if this is the working
style of the CPM. One has to ask this question: Are people really interested in
Pinarayi Vijayan or V.S.Achuthanandan? Have both these leaders helped change
the course of political or cultural discourse in Kerala or in India other than
creating factionalism within the party? Have they ever thought what the working
class or middle class in Kerala want? Do they think that star studded
television programs would sedate and keep the masses forever? Do they think
that those who prefer Kairali Channel or Jaihind or Manorama Channel eventually
vote for the CPM? The CPM leadership should urgently look at this crucial
issue; what the people want? What kind of governance they expect? In a country
where the youth population is exceeding the older generation, what would be the
CPM’s programs for attracting them to the party? Remember, this is a cafe
coffee day crowd sipping coffee, talking romance and yet concerned about the
country’s future. This is not the crowd that would come to the streets to get
beaten up by the police. May be there are young people who still do it, but
they are growing less in number. Nobody is interested in the politics of
killing. If you kill a RSS activist, you are not back patted, seriously.
Rather, a youngster would feel utter disgust.
(The sophisticated Indian youth may be stylish and coffee sipping but they are aware of political ideologies)
Another important thing is removing the cloak of hypocrisy.
By virtue of being the Communist party, nobody anymore believes that the CPM is
Pro-Dalit, Pro-Women, Pro-Queer, Pro-Lesbian, Pro-Gay, Pro-New Work Force,
Pro-Youth, Pro-intellectual, Pro-ultra Social activist, Pro-environment and so
on. The CPM under the leadership of Sitaram Yechury should take a clear stand
on this thing and let the whole of Indian population know about it. It should
also make its stance clear on religions, censorship, freedom of speech, land
reformation, land regulation, global investment, industrial growth and so on.
Nobody will say that the CPM should oppose economic growth. It should make its
policy clear and it should be pro-growth and at the same time pro-people.
Creating a strong opposition is the most important thing and the need of the
time. Sitaram Yechury wants the left parties unite but I would say this unity
should not be aimed at sharing power using the old equi-distance theory with
the political clowns. This unity should be for creating an opposition in Indian
politics. We need to accept the fact that we lack in opposition in Indian
parliamentary politics today. Check and balance provisions are created only
when there is a strong opposition in place otherwise it will lead to fascism.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) could provide that opposition. And it
should also accept the fact that opposition is just about having seats in
parliament. Opposition is also about understanding the forces of opposition in
the country, politically, intellectually and militantly. It should not join
hands with the government to hunt down political dissenters who fight for
justice on behalf of the downtrodden in India. Parliamentary politics does not
mean that conceding of all its power to dissent and identify with dissent. The
Indian youth will follow the CPM and the AAP for sure, if their aim is to
create an opposition primarily than capturing power. Once they prove they could
ideate on behalf of people and prevent the incumbent government from doing
wrong things to its own people, automatically the same people will vote them to
power. It needs patience and diligent work, and above all a change of mindset.
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