Sitaram Yechury was unanimously elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), for a second term of three years at the party’s 22nd congress at Hyderabad (18-22 April), after securing approval for his line to work with the Congress Party.
This happened not long after the party’s Central Committee meet in January rejected his draft political resolution proposing an understanding with the Congress in the 2019 polls.
The Hyderabad conclave watched keenly for its view on Opposition unity against the BJP, endorsed his careful formulation, which ruled out any political alliance with the Congress Party, but agreement to work with secular democratic forces, both inside and outside Parliament, against communalism.
Yechury’s first term as General Secretary began when he took over the responsibility from Prakash Karat, at the party’s last congress, at Vishakhapatnam in 2015. Elected to the Rajya Sabha consecutively in 2005 and 2011, 65-year-old Yechury studied at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he was JNU Students Union president in 1977. In this interview to DEEPAK RAZDAN, he explains how his party proposes to fight the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls. Excerpts:
Q: Your pronouncements from the party congress say your main task is to defeat the BJP, and not help the Congress for an alternative government?
A: We never said that. What we said was the main task is to defeat the BJP government, but without having any political alliance with the Congress party. Not having political alliance with the Congress Party is our time-tested historical truth.
The CPI (M)’s trademark is a concept called outside support. We never joined the United Front Government in 1996; through we were instrumental in forming the UF. We did not join the UPA Government; we extended outside support to it in 2004.
That is our consistent policy. What we say is we require to oust this government in the interest of the people of the country, and our main thrust is to project an alternative policy direction, and that will be done through intensifying popular struggles.
Q: BJP can claim CPM has doubts about the Congress, and its
opponents are a divided lot?
A: Please understand the Indian reality. In India elections are the summation of various regional developments. In India, you have different parties which have degrees of influence in different regions. There is no monolithic all-India thing. Remember, the United Front was formed in 1996 after the elections.
Remember, the UPA was formed in 2004 after the election, they were not formed before. So, there will be no formation of such a front before. That is the Indian reality. Take for instance UP. Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have come together. After that the role of the Congress and the role of the Left is not of much consequence.
Take South India, except for Karnataka, Congress is not the main player and there are regional parties, or the Left directly opposing the Congress in Kerala.
So, therefore, it will be a summation of all these developments. So, it is a myth generated by the BJP of divided Opposition. Where the Opposition is to be united, it is uniting. Like in UP and Bihar, it is united, and in other parts, the process is on.
Q: Understanding in the coming polls is more important than understanding in Parliament now, don’t you agree?
A: Our thought is very clear. We will cooperate with all secular forces, including Congress in Parliament on agreed issues. Outside Parliament, we will cooperate will all of them in the fight against communal forces. Thirdly, at the level of the mass organisations, trade unions, kisan morchas, etc., we will work for united struggles and strengthening them.
When it comes to the question of elections, we said appropriate electoral tactics will be adopted in order to maximise the pooling of anti-BJP votes on the basis of our political line. What will be done at the time of elections will be region specific also.
Q: You are cautious about alliances even when you say society, economy, democratic institutions are under unprecedented threat?
A: We are very clear. The first objective is this government is to be ousted. Second, what will be the alternate government? There we have said when we have removed the words no understanding, yes there can be an alternative government, we will support the government from outside ~ issue-based ~ which can include the Congress. Where is there any confusion?
Q: In 2014, you fought BJP not in power, in 2019, you will fight BJP after five years of power at the Centre?
A: That is why they have tremendous control over resources. They have manipulated the system in such a manner that will give them favourable results. All this has to be combated and it will be. Remember, India and Indian people. Who had thought the mighty Indira Gandhi will herself lose the elections in 1977 but she lost.
Q: If it is the Left alone that can give a policy alternative, then why not lead a third front with state-based alliances?
A: That has not been decided. We decided the objective is to oust the government. For that we will maximise the pooling of anti-BJP votes, not divide.
Q: Will you examine if your Bahujan Left Front experiment in Telangana can be implemented all over the country?
A: What happened in Telangana and the formation of the Bahujan Left Front was part of the overall all-India understanding of the party, which we arrived at the last party congress in 2015.
We said we need to integrate the struggles against economic exploitation with the struggles against social oppression, that is really caste-based oppression. That is why in these three years you find there has been very strong convergence of the Left movement and the Dalit movement in various parts of the country.
In Telangana, it has reached the stage of formation of this front for social justice. It will now grow all over the country. We need to strengthen ourselves, then strengthen Left unity through popular struggles of the people, bringing the Left and democratic process together and by this democratic process we don’t mean only political parties.
We also mean people’s movements. They will also be brought together, and you saw that result now, 186 organisations joined together in the massive Bhoomi bachao andolan (save lands movement) and the farmers struggles in the recent long march to Mumbai, clearly show that this is a path of struggle that has begun and will be intensified in the future.
Q: Regional parties are raring to join hands against the BJP, why not provide them a national platform?
A: The point is the regional parties’ influence is limited to the regions. So, there you first defeat the BJP in your region. After the BJP is defeated, then the question of any national front will emerge.
The UF and the UPA were formed after elections. Such a platform may emerge, surely it will emerge, if the BJP is defeated, but this is not the time to start such a front. Concentrate in your regions, there defeat the BJP and then the rest will follow.
Q: Any alternative programme will need to spell out how existing jobs will be saved and new jobs created?
A: What is the alternative? What has happened in the last four years of Mr Modi’s government. There is a complete loot of public resources. Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi. People did not know there were so many Modis in India.
All of them, the way they are looting your public money, 11.50 lakh crores of rupees has been taken by India’s big corporates from our banks, which they are not returning.
Now, what are we saying: You immediately put an end to this. Even if you recover one-half of this amount, that will be a big amount for increasing public investment for building our much needed public infrastructure. Once that public investment is done, that will generate lakhs and lakhs of new jobs, building our roads, dams, irrigation channels, rural roads and infrastructure that is necessary for India.
Once these jobs are created, our youth which is aimlessly wandering, will get jobs and spend their salaries, then the demand in the economy will grow for manufactured goods, and industry will also develop. That is inclusive growth, that is the alternative we are offering to the people, which is possible in India.
Q: What about the impoverishment of people and agrarian distress?
A: Poverty is increasing, hunger is increasing, and in our country, the distress suicides of farmers today is a telling story. The entire life of the vast majority of our people has sharply deteriorated under this government. We will bring a law to provide that the State will compulsorily buy the harvest of our farmers.
Today, the farmer brings his harvest but the Food Corporation of India refuses to procure, so the minimum support price that you declare is also meaningless.
What we are saying is, one, the compulsory right to sell at MSP, two, the MSP should be pegged at one and a half times the production cost, three, give indebted farmers a one-time loan-waiver which will help them overcome their indebtedness. This is our alternative package.
Q: How do you check the alienation of people in Kashmir?
A: That is a very serious issue. We have never seen this degree of alienation which is near complete now in the last four years. They are shamelessly part of the coalition state government in J & K, and they do exactly the opposite of what they promised.
The confidence of the people of Kashmir has to be earned. This can only be done if the government is sincere and wanting to solve this problem.
They appear to be using the Kashmir issue for political and communal polarisation in the rest of India so that they can get electoral benefit. They are playing with fire, and this is a disaster. That is why this government has to go.