New Delhi: The CPI(M) Politburo has finalised documents for discussions at the party’s Central Committee meeting, including an assessment of the political situation after the recent round of Assembly polls and a rectification document focussing on “parliamentary opportunism and parliamentary deviation”, party general secretary M A Baby said on Saturday.
A meeting of the Politburo, held on June 26-27, also discussed what the CPI(M) described as attempts by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to weaken the opposition through splits and defections, with Baby saying the Left party would launch a political campaign on the issue and hold discussions with other parties, including INDIA bloc partners, to respond to the emerging situation.
The Central Committee meeting, scheduled for July 11 to July 13, will take up these issues along with other documents, including one on the party’s work in Adivasi areas, Baby said.
The discussions come in the backdrop of the recent Assembly polls in five states, following which the BJP formed a government in West Bengal for the first time, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a setback in Kerala, despite its “remarkable pro-people work”, he said.
“In Kerala, notwithstanding very remarkable pro-people work by the LDF government, we suffered a severe setback. Then in Tamil Nadu, a new political situation has emerged,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary said.
He said the party’s rectification document would examine the shortcomings and weaknesses that need to be addressed.
“Apart from this, our work in the Adivasi areas, we have adopted a document. Then we take up various areas where the party is encountering certain shortcomings and weaknesses, which need to be rectified. This is known as the rectification process,” he said.
“This time, the area we have chosen is parliamentary opportunism and parliamentary deviation. This will also be placed in the Central Committee meeting,” Baby said.
In Left parlance, “parliamentary opportunism” and “parliamentary deviation” refer to concerns within communist parties over excessive emphasis on electoral and parliamentary activity at the cost of mass struggles and organisational work.
Baby accused the BJP of trying to increase its parliamentary strength by weakening opposition parties. He cited developments involving the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray.
“What has happened with the TMC is well known, with the AAP is known, the Uddhav Thackeray segment of the Shiv Sena is also being broken. So the BJP is using commercialisation tools in the political framework,” he said.
Drawing a parallel with corporate takeovers, Baby said, “You have acquisition, merger and takeover of companies. Similarly, political parties are also being subjected to acquisition, merger and takeover, or split and takeover.”
“This is very dangerous, it is unconstitutional, it is against anti-defection legislation also,” he said.
The CPI(M) leader said his party would conduct a political campaign against such developments and hold discussions with others in the opposition bloc on how to respond to the changing political situation.
“We will be carrying out a political campaign in the country. We will be discussing with various opposition parties to find out how this new political situation can be handled,” he said.
Baby also accused the BJP-led Centre of corruption, referring to reports involving Union Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary.
“Similarly, there is this naked corruption being practised by the BJP,” he said, adding that such instances are “only the tip of the iceberg”.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg of the corruption happening under (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat,” he alleged.
He also raised allegations related to misappropriation of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and demanded action against those responsible for wrongdoing.
“Only the instruments have been apprehended. The real bigwigs who operated through these various RSS and BJP people, who are holding different responsibilities in the Ram temple, are still at large,” he said.
Asked about an article written by former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in which she has attacked the Modi government over its stand on the Palestine issue, Baby said the CPI(M) supports the concerns raised by her over the Centre’s response to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
“We share the sentiments expressed by Mrs Gandhi about our failure, the government of India’s failure, in establishing or unequivocally declaring our solidarity with the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza,” he said.
He said India should develop a “strong solidarity movement with Palestine”.
In the article for “The Indian Express”, Gandhi, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson, claimed that India has alienated itself from its historical allies in Palestine, Iran and the larger Middle East, and distanced itself from global public opinion, while letting Pakistan swoop in to claim the space of a mediator.
Gandhi also termed Modi’s visit to Israel ahead of the US-Israel joint attack on Iran a “bewildering strategic decision”.
