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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  NDA govt is practising ‘jumlanomics’: Sitaram Yechury
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NDA govt is practising ‘jumlanomics’: Sitaram Yechury

At a time when the Left is struggling to hold on to its voter base, the CPM is looking to revive its organizational structure

Sitaram Yechury, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist). Photo: Ramesh Pathania/MintPremium
Sitaram Yechury, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist). Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

New Delhi: Sitaram Yechury has taken charge of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM as the general secretary at a time when the party is preparing for its biggest test, with upcoming polls in two key states—West Bengal and Kerala. At a time when the Left is struggling to hold on to its voter base, the party is looking to revive its organizational structure to face current challenges. In a candid interview, Yechury discusses the chances of an alliance with the Congress in the upcoming polls, the Narendra Modi government’s policies and the future of the Left.

Sitaram Yechury, 63Yechury is the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He has also been a member of the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal since 2005. Under his leadership, the party is set to face assembly elections this year in two key states—West Bengal and Kerala.

Edited excerpts:

The CPM has just concluded its organizational plenum; what were the key takeaways?

The one big takeaway is to activate party units at the local level. The overall approach of the party is to build the alternative on the basis of policies to what is happening today in the country; we have been doing it at the all-India level, but (also) at the local level—the issues are so varied in our country. Activation has to start from below.

The second major thing is that we need to strengthen ourselves because right now, we are at a very difficult situation both electorally as well as in terms of our mass organization. There are objective reasons for it. We have had to adapt to new organizational methods to reach out. For instance, now only 7% of your workers are in the organized sector; 93% are in what is called the informal/unorganized sector. Therefore, the traditional methods of organizing the working class—for instance, through the trade union movement—that has to change. So, the organizational methods that are required to adapt to these new changes was where the lag was. It should have been done 10 years ago actually.

The other takeaway is to evolve methods to reach out to the emerging middle class. A gamut of new issues was thrown up with this 25 years of liberalization. Conditions are changing; your analysis has not been keeping pace. You are not reaching out to these sections and they are not coming into your organization. Electoral decline is also connected with this.

But how do you preserve your Left ideology when you are reaching out to a rainbow of classes?

You see, our connect or USP (unique selling point) to this new section is that their aspirations have grown. There are 25 million new workers joining the workforce every year and your employment rate is not even taking care of even a fraction of your backlog. How is it that they can be drawn into the larger process of nation-building? Our USP is that India has sufficient resources; the question is what are the policies whereby you utilize these resources to provide, let’s say, quality education, health and employment opportunities for our youth—so that you have both inclusion and a sustained growth trajectory. These aspirations are not being met; what is required is a change in policies. That is a section waiting to be tapped. Need to change the reform trajectory, coupled with combating this communal offensive.

In the Modi government today, there is a convergence of both neoliberal reforms and communalism. Earlier, the divide used to be Congress’s neoliberal reforms and BJP’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) communalism. Today, Modi has managed to converge the two. There is a need for an alternative and most people feel this should be evolved urgently. Actual discussions on these never took place in Parliament, just listed. You have this fall in the international oil prices—one aspect is that it is not going to the people. Even when it’s falling, you are raising excise duties and that is the only way you can manage your fiscal deficit. That’s why this ‘jumlanomics’, as I call it, has nothing to do with actual reality.

How do you see the fundamental change in Indian politics since 2014?

The fundamental change in India’s politics has been at two levels—there is a very direct integration between the trajectory of economic reforms and sharpening communal polarization. These are no longer separate issues. What we call a double whammy attack on the people by this Modi government. It is not that intolerance is a separate issue from economic reforms; that is no longer the case.

What do you see as the role of the Congress?

On communal issues, issues that are attacking the people, etc, we will seek the help of everybody in Parliament. On the land acquisition bill, we all walked to the President of India together and it has not happened so far. On GST (goods and services tax), there is a fundamental issue involved, which the Congress didn’t address, neither did the BJP—the only remaining avenue for the states to raise their resources will be lost once the GST comes. If at all, the state governments require to raise resources, what do they fall back on? During the UPA (United Progressive Alliance), on all the major bills, you had an all-party meeting, where parties came with their proposals in writing and amendments were made. Not one all-party meeting has been held since Modi came, on any of these issues. That is a real problem. So, where does the Congress stand because, after all, they initiated these reforms. That’s why this convergence has come. We will be issue-based.

The Congress has to realize our opposition with the Congress has always been on these reforms. What we pushed in the Congress (tenure) and very reluctantly they accepted, and that’s rural employment. They came back in 2009 and that was the single biggest contributor for their coming back.

Do you see an alliance with the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections?

When the time comes, we will see. But as far as we have said, there will not be any electoral alliance or a front with the Congress because, after all, Modi’s coming to power, the Congress has a lot to do with it.

How do you see the Left’s prospects in West Bengal?

It is good. The basic issue in West Bengal is the politics of terror and intimidation. If the people in Bengal are allowed to vote without any such impediments, then I think the Left will do very well. The crucial issue is to get the people to come to vote. Now, they are terrorized. We have lost 171 comrades in the last three-four years. We are fighting, our people will fight this. But the terror that is spread in the villages and the rural areas, those people have to come to vote. That is the real problem.

If those conditions are created, it is the job of the Election Commission to hold free and fair elections. Thousands of people have been forced to leave their regular places of habitation. Their votes are in that area and they can’t go back because of this terror. The basic thing in Bengal is to resist this politics of terror and intimidation. If we succeed in that, we will do very well.

And in Kerala? Seeing that your own house is divided.

In Kerala, for the last few decades... is a ping pong battle. This time, we have a very good chance. This (Congress-led) government particularly has been embroiled in huge corruption. Kerala has not seen this sort of thing in politics. Corruption of this nature is very new to Kerala. This time, the LDF (Left Democratic Front) has a good chance. We will ensure that our own house is in order. Things have much improved. I hope that by the time elections come, it will be much better.

You have taken charge of the party at a very critical juncture. How do you view the challenges and what is your vision?

It is a very formidable challenge. We are now at the lowest representation in Parliament in our entire existence. Even the first election in 1967 after the communist parties split, we had a better parliamentary and state assembly representation than we have today.

In terms of our organization growth, it has not measured up to what it should be. That is a challenge, and then there is the challenge of the changing times. There is also the challenge of our ability to adapt to these changes. That is what the plenum was all about.

But I think five years down the line, you will find the CPM as the alternative political force on the basis of alternative policies—we are saying that on the basis of our organizational strength, on the basis of stronger Left unity to forge what we call the Left Democratic Front, that is, non-Left parties who are willing to come together on these issues of reforms, communalism and worsening centre-state relations.

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Published: 11 Feb 2016, 12:27 AM IST
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