This fresh approach of the new CPI(M) general secretary is not liked, it seems, by the more conservative sections of the leadership who ruled the party for the last ten years. One senior politburo member Brinda Karat in her commentary on “The Vizag Line” in a national daily has sought to interpret the Vizag Congress line in such a way that if it is really followed, Yechury’s hands will be tied by the old line and he will be left with few innovative options to bring the CPI(M) and the Left to the mainstream of the national politics.

Right now, the crucial question for the Indian Left is how to fight effectively the Narendra Modi Government and the BJP and who will be possible allies in that bitter and sustained battle. The issue is how to bring about that unity of action of the anti-BJP forces and which can be the common basis for that unity without which no road map can be drawn up for unseating the Modi Government. Brinda has candidly admitted in her piece that given the policy direction in the one year of the rule of the Narendra Modi government that India is witnessing a rightward shift in social and economic policy and RSS now has direct access to the levers of power with the elevation of its pracharak to the highest elected office in the country, there is a real danger to the Constitution and structure of India through the institutionalisation of the ideology and practice of Hindutva in the different wings of the state.

How to fight this danger when the the Constitution and the unity of India are being threatened by the forces of Hindutva and who will be allies in that fight? Here Brinda virtually rules out the role of the regional parties and the Congress. According to her, the party congress document notes that in recent years, the regional parties have not been willing to come to any joint platform against the economic policies. Then she mentions that representing the rural rich nexus, their outlook on poor peasants and agricultural workers is also different. Despite this, she says efforts to rally them on a common set of alternative policies at the national level were unrealistic and erroneous. As for the Congress, according to Brinda, the document is categorical that there is no difference between it and the BJP where economic policies are concerned and therefore, any alliance or front with the Congress in the name of fighting Hindutva is ruled out.

If this is the core of the CPI(M) party congress’s adopted resolution, and the new general secretary has to follow it, there will be little scope for any pro-active role of the Left in any all out struggle against BJP and the NDA government. This interpretation of Brinda means that the CPI(M) will remain isolated as before and it will fail to connect effectively with the rising urge for unity in action that is now being noticed among the regional parties and the Congress.

These veteran CPI(M) leaders forget that the CPI(M) is not in a position to dictate terms about the form and content of any anti-BJP movement any more. The strength of the Left is now only ten including one of the CPI in Lok Sabha as against 24 in 2009 Lok Sabha and 61-the largest so far in 2004 Lok Sabha. The CPI-M and the Left can only grow by participating effectively in an allout struggle against Hindutva around which there can be full understanding with the Janata Parivar parties and the Congress. CPI(M) and the other left parties can simultaneously carry on struggles against neo-liberal economic policies but there cannot be any conditions imposed by the ailing Left that the regional parties and the Congress have to agree to fight against the neo liberal policies. If the present government and the saffron power are the biggest threat at the moment, all focus has to be directed to make a success of this fight. The Left may not have much strength organizationally now, but it can play a catalytic role in galvanizing the masses around the all out fight against Hindutva, both in Parliament and outside. The economic issues that affect the masses, will automatically soon be a part of that struggle.

The Left has to call a spade as spade. No country wide front is possible without active participation of the Congress. Once the main enemy is identified, innovative strategy has to be adopted to build a national level secular front against the main enemy BJP. Efforts have to be made to delink BJP from other non-BJP parties. This process can be harnessed only when a viable combination emerges against the BJP and Narendra Modi. Janata Parivar parties may have different approach on economic policies but they are eager to fight BJP on the issue of communalism, so why constantly harp on these differences when the supreme need is to unseat BJP from power in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In short, the strategy for the new CPI(M) general secretary should be to first, work for the unity of action within the left parties focusing on the early unification of the CPI and the CPI-M, start talks with the Janata Parivar for effective coordination in the fight against the Hindutva and some economic policies on which the Left and these parties agree and the third, to open a dialogue with the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul for building a broad anti-BJP movement. This will be a tortured process but this is possible and sustainable. With the Congress out of power and the Manmohan-Chidambaram-Montek combination not in a position to influence Congress economic policies like earlier years, this is the right time for the Left to work out some understanding with Sonia for building up a nationwide anti-BJP movement.

Time is running out. The Left has to retrieve the lost ground. The new CPI(M) general secretary has set the right chord after taking over. He should act on his out of the box thinking and take the leadership along with his initiatives. That is the call of the nation and to quote a famous award winning Hollywood film “that’s the way to the future” in India. (IPA Service)