Notwithstanding its reduced numbers in Lok Sabha, the Left has been at the forefront of setting the agenda in the fight against the BJP - whether it was on Article 370, CAA, agri laws or electoral bonds - and will improve its performance electorally in the upcoming polls, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said in New Delhi.
In an interview with PTI, Mr. Yechury also asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not be able to make a dent in the southern states.
Facing a shrinking voter base, the Left parties, which are part of the opposition INDIA bloc, are virtually engaged in a do-or-die battle in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
With just five MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha - three of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and two of the Communist Party of India (CPI) - the Left parties are at their lowest in almost six decades.
“You see, electorally the Left will definitely improve from the earlier election. But the point… the crucial thing for the Left is not really the question of how many seats you win or not but how much of the agenda are you setting?" he said.
"You look at even the last five-year period, on every single issue that the BJP brought which we consider divisive and which we don't consider is in consonance with our Constitution on India… the Left's initiative was setting the agenda and simultaneously for the entire people's struggles,” Mr. Yechury told PTI while citing various issues raised by the Left.
“It started with Article 370, the first one. That Article 370, the Left was the first to contest and in fact, I was the first political leader who managed to breach through and visit Srinagar with Supreme Court's authority and orders,” Mr. Yechury said.
After the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which was followed by the detention of political leaders and imposition of curfew in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Yechury filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court regarding the detention of party leader Yusuf Tarigami.
He was allowed to travel to Srinagar to visit the ailing leader. Mr. Tarigami was also allowed to come to Delhi for treatment at AIIMS and later permitted to go back as top political leaders in the state remained under detention.
“Then CAA, that entire debate on that nationwide debate and the protest and the challenges in the Supreme Court, the Left was in the forefront,” he said.
The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) led to a series of protests in Delhi and the rest of the country against the law, which expedites the grant of citizenship to members of minority communities- Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains and Buddhists- from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to India on or before 31st December 2014, as well as the National Register of Citizens (NRC) .
“Whether it is on the question of electoral bonds, whether it is on the question of Bilkis Bano reference etc., on each one of them, the Left's initiative was setting the agenda and simultaneously for the entire people's struggles,” Mr. Yechury said.
CPI(M) politburo member Subhashini Ali was among the petitioners who went to the Supreme Court against the release of convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
The apex court had quashed the Gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to the 11 convicts in the case of Bano’s gangrape and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. CPI(M) was also a petitioner in the case against Electoral Bonds in the Supreme Court along with the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which led to the scrapping of the scheme, and data related to donations being released.
Mr. Yechury also cited the farmers' protests of 2020-21, which led to the scrapping of the three farm laws brought by the Narendra Modi-led government.
“The historic Kisan struggle was the only thing that made the Prime Minister withdraw from what he said or what he would do. He was forced to withdraw the laws,” he said.
Several Leftist farmers’ unions are members of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha which had led the protests. CPI(M)’s farmers’ organisation - the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), is also a major component of the SKM.
“So on all these things the Left has played a major role in setting the agenda and that is something that will strengthen after these elections,” he said.
Mr. Yechury said his party will improve its position in the upcoming polls.
“We will enter the Lok Sabha from different states. More than what we entered last time. Last time it was Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” he said.
“This time it will be much more than that. There will be much more progress that will be made,” he said.
Asked if he saw the BJP making any dent in the southern states, Mr. Yechury replied, “No, not at all." "And however much the Prime Minister may labour, even with the huge amount of labour and the gross violation of the Code of Conduct, like in Karnataka, where they called for votes in the name of ‘Jai Bajrangbali’,” Mr. Yechury said.
“You saw what happened in the Karnataka assembly elections. You saw what happened in Telangana in the assembly elections. These sorts of things will not work,” he said.
He said the BJP may be able to “whip up passions” in northern states by “sharpening communal polarisation,” but that will not work in the southern states.
“It's just not possible in the societies in the south. So I don't think they will be of any success. They will draw a blank,” he said.
The BJP, which has expressed confidence of getting 370 Lok Sabha seats this time, has been focusing on increasing its tally in southern states, where its presence is negligible except in Karnataka.
