Ever since the RSS controlled BJP government began to strangle the secular-democratic existence of India, the party was clear in its strategy and tactics to fight it out by all means. The CPI's clarion call in this regard was given, looking at the threat to the country, immediately after the RSS regime started consolidating itself. CPI’s Puducherry Congress in 2015 itself, resolved to make “efforts for building a broad Left-Democratic unity based on principles of secularism, democracy and pro-people economic policies.”

CPI consistently worked for the broadest possible unity of all secular, democratic, Left forces. Ifs and buts were raised from various corners but the CPI had no doubt that communal-fascism represented by RSS-BJP was the main enemy of the people. Marxist understanding of the reality helped the CPI to steadfastly play its due role for the broad unity of forces to fight the main enemy. It is with that feeling of pride the CPI participates in the historic Patna meeting.

The RSS-BJP captured power at the centre with a vote percentage of 31 in 2014Lok Sabha elections. In the next general elections, using everything they have, they came back to power with a vote share of 37.4 per cent. Majority of the Indian people have not supported the RSS-BJP and have voted against them. The BJP victory and its fanfare were always built up on the disunity among opposition forces and on the first-past-the-post norm of the faulty electoral system. BJP and the forces behind it had the ability to ensure that the opposition votes are divided and the BJP road to victory is safeguarded. The people of India had to pay heavy prices, as BJP rule brought them only hardships and havocs.

Now the wind of change has begun to blow. Most of the parties in the opposition have understood the urgent necessity to unseat the BJP, led by the fascist ideology of the RSS. The meeting of opposition parties in Patna becomes historic in this background. It is a significant attempt from the opposition parties to respond to the call of our times. After a lot of soul searching at different levels, they have come to this point of far-reaching importance. The meeting in Patna is significant as it indicates a major change in India’s polity. Those with democratic mindset look at this meeting with great expectations.

These are days of turmoil and strife in various parts of India. Lives of the common people have no value or dignity. Manipur is a testimony to it. After the train accident in Odisha, we saw how the dead bodies of humans were treated by the authorities. For a government crazy for the luxury trains of the rich, the rights of the common people are matters of least importance. Their trains, bogeys, rail lines and signal system all are neglected. The rulers show their expertise in hiding their colossal failures by propaganda skills everywhere. Big structures are being built up in the name of gods and national leaders.

The new Parliament building and the way in which it was inaugurated reveal how the democratic principles and secular values are thrown to the winds. The prime minister had no time to utter a single word to pacify the anguishes of women wrestlers who upheld the Indian flag in the international arena and the plight of the people of Manipur. Parties, big and small, old or new, regional or national, all have to address these emerging challenges the country is facing. The government’s only concern is elections. So much so that they even designed the timing and conduct of G20 in a way to make it possible for PM Modi to canvass for the crucial 2024 elections in the garb of international conclave. Such is RSS-BJP’s obsession with elections.

The meeting of opposition parties in Patna is sure to upset the communal camp. They are trying to belittle the political significance of this unity process by pointing at the differences between various participating political parties. It is true and natural that the participants in Patna meeting are holding multiple views on several issues. Their class approaches and ideological, political positions also vary. In a large and diverse country like India the reasons for the same are well-known. The political parties who have come forward to share such a broad platform are quite aware of the socio-political realities of the country. While coming to Patna they are realistic enough not to fall prey to any illusions.

It is a perfect example of unity in diversity. These parties do have differences on various national issues, some of them fight each other in the states, but they also get united in the face of biggest challenge country is facing today. It is the attack on the unity of the country unleashed by the forces of hatred and nurtured by the ideology of racial supremacy. The foundations of the Constitution that are secularism, democracy, federalism and allegiance to socialist goals are aggressively threatened by the philosophy of the RSS. Parties attending the Patna meeting are aware that the main enemy of the country today is the communal fascism of the RSS and they are uniting to fight that.

The participants in the Patna meeting know that this is not the time to dig out the differences and get engaged in hair-splitting arguments but to highlight commonalities and create the possibility of united action against forces who are sowing the seeds of hatred among the masses. In pursuance of this patriotic task of saving the country from RSS-BJP’s clutches, Patna meeting is only the beginning. Numerous suggestions and ideas are liable to emerge from the meeting and the parties would understand the positions of each other from this exercise.

Many observers of various shades ask questions about the common minimum programme and the leadership. On such questions, answers will be evolved but not in the Patna session. As it has been proven earlier, several questions find their answers only in the post-poll scenario. The political preparedness that brought these parties to Patna would remain as the guiding spirit in finding solutions and answers for every possible question that may arise in the political discourse. It may need several rounds of discussions and many more editions of such meetings.

As the time for the decisive battle in 2024 is closing down, each party has to move responsibly as they are ultimately accountable to the people and their democratic aspirations. This is not the time to sit on fence, the situation calls on everyone concerned about the country’s future to unite. Those who breach this unity will be questioned by the people. The lines of revolutionary Guatemalan poet Otto Ren Castillo are worth remembering in the present political conditions of India. He wrote “One day/the apolitical intellectuals/of our land/will be interrogated/by the poorest of people. They will be asked what they did/while their country/was extinguished…” The parties coming to Patna are quite positive in understanding this fact. (IPA Service)