Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday strongly criticized the CPI-M’s draft resolution for its 24th Party Congress, which states that the BJP and RSS cannot be labeled as fascist.

Speaking to the media in Kozhikode, Chennithala expressed shock over the CPI-M’s political resolution, which asserts that the Modi government cannot be classified as a fascist regime. “The claim that the BJP and RSS are not fascist is shocking,” he said.

Advertisement

He alleged that the new resolution is a tactical move by the CPI-M to secure BJP votes in the upcoming legislative assembly elections.

“The CPI-M retained power in Kerala in the last assembly polls by securing BJP votes. Given that the party has no political influence elsewhere in India, it is now attempting to ensure BJP support for the next election through this draft resolution,” Chennithala claimed.

“Even before the previous assembly elections, Prakash Karat had expressed this view, while Sitaram Yechury had always opposed it. Karat’s stance suggests an underlying understanding between the CPI-M and BJP. At this rate, when will the CPI-M declare the RSS a progressive movement? We must also note that the Kerala Chief Minister has never criticized the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he added.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan remarked that the CPI-M’s resolution should not come as a surprise, given what he described as the Left party’s long-standing secret ties with the BJP.

“The CPI-M has now discovered that the Modi government is neither classically fascist nor neo-fascist. If this continues, they might soon claim that the BJP is a democratic force,” he said.

“The CPI-M in Kerala has always made peace with fascism and the Sangh Parivar. Now, to hold on to power, they have presented a new document stating that the Modi government is not fascist. This is part of the CPI-M’s strategy to align with Modi, make peace with the Sangh Parivar, and ultimately surrender to them,” Satheesan alleged.

The CPI-M’s draft political resolution states that the Modi government cannot be labeled a fascist regime. The assessment document sent to state units explains that while there are “neo-fascist tendencies,” the Modi government cannot be classified as fully fascist.

“We have stated that the present political setup under the BJP-RSS is a Hindutva-corporate authoritarian regime displaying neo-fascist characteristics. We are not saying that the Modi government is a fascist or neo-fascist government, nor are we characterizing the Indian state as a neo-fascist state. However, after ten years of BJP rule, there has been a consolidation of political power in the hands of the BJP-RSS, leading to the manifestation of neo-fascist traits,” the document states.

While the CPI refers to the Modi government as fascist and the CPI (ML) claims that fascism has already arrived in India, the CPI-M has rejected both positions. The resolution explains that classical fascism, as seen under Mussolini and Hitler, emerged from inter-imperialist conflicts, while neo-fascism is a product of the crisis of neoliberalism.