Sticking to its stand of maintaining equidistance from the Congress and the BJP, the CPI(M), in its draft political resolution to be adopted in the 20th party Congress slated to be held in Kerala in April, has charted out its path against the neo-liberal policy pursued by both the parties. “Defeating the Congress and the UPA government is imperative given the crushing burden of price rise, unemployment, suffering of the farmers and workers on one hand and the brazen corruption and big sops to big business and the wealthy sections on the other. Isolating the BJP and countering its communal and right-wing agenda is necessary and important for the advance of the Left, democratic and secular forces,” the draft pointed out.
In the current situation, when the Left has suffered serious electoral reverses and, in Bengal, the strongest base of the party is under attack, it is of the utmost importance to expand the influence and base of the party in other states. To accomplish this, it is essential to strengthen and expand the independent role of the party. This is the key to advancing the party, the draft added in a note published in the party mouthpiece for public views on it.
Although the draft never mentioned the “third front” formula as against the Congress and the BJP, the Marxist party this time advocated for an alternative platform. “Only a Left and democratic platform can be the alternative to bourgeois-landlord rule. This alternative needs to be built up through a process of movements and struggles and the emergence of a political alliance of the Left and democratic forces. The emergence of such joint platforms should help the process of building the alliance of the Left and democratic forces,” it said.
Emphasising the need to step up its political work among the youth and the unemployed, it said: “Special attention has to be paid to work in the urban areas, particularly in the slums and among poorer sections. The party should take up the environmental issues which affect the people, particularly the poor and the vulnerable sections whose livelihoods are affected.”
Clearly back to its basics or to its core constituency, it stated that the party’s work among the basic classes should be given priority. “The lag in the work amongst the peasantry and the rural poor in building class and mass struggles has to be overcome. The party has to expand its influence among the workers in the organised sector in the manufacturing and strategic industries.