Reiterating his party’s stance for reunification of the communist movement, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja has stressed the need to create a broad alliance of secular and regional parties to counter the growing influence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the country.
Inaugurating the delegates’ session of the CPI State conference here on Saturday, Mr. Raja urged the Congress to undertake a course correction and revise its policies in order to resolve its internal turmoil.
He accused the RSS of attempting to impose a monolithic and illiberal socio-political order on the citizens of the country. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government which, he alleged, did its bidding has also worked to sabotage the constitutional values in the country.
“Besides destroying the welfare character of the country by denying social justice for large sections, the government has allowed corporate houses to loot national assets and plunder the wealth of the people. It has also been hell-bent on privatising public sector undertakings that have remained the backbone of the Indian economy for long. The government has also violated the fundamental tenets of the Constitution by shunning the need for cooperative federalism,” the CPI leader said.
Under such circumstances, Mr. Raja said, all secular forces including regional parties must work together to mobilise people with an aim to defeat the BJP in the 2024 general elections. Lamenting the lack of unity among Left parties in States, including Kerala and West Bengal, he called for working towards a communist unification on a principled basis. Such a union was paramount to cobble up the Opposition unity.
While emphasising on the increasing role of regional parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Janata Dal (United), in Indian politics, Mr. Raja lashed out at certain others like the YSR Congress and Biju Janata Dal for their “wavering stance” towards the BJP. “They can no longer remain right of centre and be part of political conservatism. It is the need of the hour that they adopt a centrist position if not a left-of-centre view,” he remarked.
CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan, State secretary Kanam Rajendran, Binoy Viswam, MP, control commission chairman Pannian Ravindran, national executive member K.E. Ismail, and district secretary Mankode Radhakrishnan also participated.
