|
CPI(M): Support to UPA will continue, Third Front in three years |
 |
The 18th congress of the CPI(M) held in New Delhi last week appears to have decided to continue support to the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance for the present. But at the same time, the party has taken a tough stand against the economic policies of the UPA and again raised the issue of a Third alternative or Third Front. Speeches of top party leaders and delegates at the congress made it clear that the CPI(M) is only tolerating the UPA in the present circumstances to checkmate the BJP, but would not like to be taken for granted.
In his speech at the opening session of the party congress on April 6, general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said, “While we extend support to the UPA Government to meet the exigencies of the current session, let me make it clear that there will be no giving up of our basic agenda. We shall make independent assessments and decide our course of action.”
Surjeet pointed out that the BJP-led NDA had been rejected not only for its communal policies, but also because it promoted policies which led to industrial closures and unemployment. He said, the Manmohan Singh government should now reverse the process by implementing the Common Minimum Programme. He said the Public Sector must not be treated as if it is a burden to the country but as the base for building a self-reliant economy.
Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu, the two party veterans, have asked to be relieved of their duties because of their age and ill-health. Surjeet’s Address at the inaugural session was read out by Prakash Karat as he was not able to read it out. Prakash Karat is widely tipped to take over as the next CPIM General Secretary. The CPIM said that it is working to build a formidable Third Front in the next few years. Prakash Karat said that the Third Front should be ready by the next party Congress which is to be held after three years. He said the third alternative would be created by firming up alliances with state outfits including the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and DMK. Prakash Karat said, non-Congress and non-BJP parties must come together and this should not merely be an electoral alliance.
The party also indicated the shift from its policy of dictatorship of the Proletariat. Karat said that this can possibly give way to a multi-party system of leadership in the country.
Prakash Karat made it clear that while working on a third alternative, the party will not pull the rug from under the feet of the UPA. He said, the CPI(M) would go about the formation of a third front in a proper fashion. He said there will have to be a common policy platform or a framework under which the constituent parties should function. He said this will not be possible immediately and nothing tangible can be expected before the next party congress in 2008.
Party sources say that an overwhelming majority of delegates at the congress backed the CPI(M)’s current line of tactical collaboration with the Congress party. Only two members sought a rethinking on the alliance with the Congress. But the signals from the party congress are that the CPI(M) will take a tougher approach towards respect for its point of view on economic policy and even matters like military ties with Israel. The party has demanded that the Government should cut off all military ties with Israel. It said India should return to the policy of what it called “genuine non-alignment” and play its role in taking up in international fora Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.
Observers say that the CPI(M) congress saw the BJP taking place of the Congress as the party’s principal political adversary. This is a far cry from the days when former CPI(M) general secretary EMS Namboodripad had characterised the BJP as the “plague”, and the Congress as “cholera.” Important leaders of the party focussed on the victory of the secular forces in last year’s general elections and party building.
The CPI(M) has decided to give further momentum to its efforts for rapid expansion in the country. Apart from the five states - West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - where it has a strong presence, the party’s central committee has identified Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and Maharashtra as “priority” states.
CPI takes a tougher line to the Congress
Compared to the CPI(M), the CPI has taken a tougher line towards the Congress-led UPA Government. CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan who was a special invitee at the CPI(M) party congress, listed out the economic policies of the Manmohan Singh Government that the Left has been opposing. He warned the UPA Government that the Left’s support was neither unconditional, nor indefinite.
Earlier, the CPI congress which ended in Chandigarh on April 3, decided to intensify the fight for the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme by the UPA Government. Speaking at the end of he Chandigarh congress, party general secretary A.B. Bardhan said that pressure would be brought on the Manmohan Singh Government to adhere to the implementation of the CMP.
A.B. Bardhan was re-elected CPI general secretary at the Chandigarh conclave.
|
