CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday made a distinction between Congress and BJP, describing the former as a secular party and the latter as representing majority communalism and said a third alternative was not feasible.
"We have to make a political differentiation, though in terms of class there is no difference. BJP is a party advocating and representing majority communalism in our country and Congress, despite being a big bourgeoise party, is a secular party though we know its record of vascillation and compromises when there is communal offence," Karat said in Kolkata.
"It is necessary to keep this distinction in mind in the Indian context," Karat said while delivering the Promode Dasgupta centenary memorial lecture where top party leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee were present.
Since Congress and BJP were "directly representing the interests of big bourgeoise and landlords", he said "there is no question of having a united front or alliance with either of them. This has been reiterated by us in every tactical resolution of our party." Dwelling on the subject of the lecture 'The Communist Party and the Politics of United Front', he said "a Third alternative is not feasible in the country again.
"At the all-India level, the task of building a Left and democratic alliance is much more complicated and difficult because in most parts the influence of the bourgeoisie parties are strong among the people", the CPI(M) general secretary said.
He said it was necessary that the Left did not encompass only Left parties that existed today in the country or in West Bengal and all left-minded ones should be united along the lines in the state.
Karat, however, said that in many states except West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, CPI(M) had electoral understanding and alliance with certain parties which did not belong to the Left.
He defended this saying that this was done mainly to fulfill political and tactical needs. "In some places, it was to ensure that we defeat and fight Congress and in some places we want to fight and defeat BJP.
"These are not the united fronts in the sense Congress has spelt out and works for it. These are temporary arrangement with parties with whom we have not worked out any basic common approach and programmes," he said. "It is only a method of avoiding splitting of votes and in trying to pool our votes for future benefit," he said.
He said that because of the nature, many of these parties were uninterested in united action concerning the problems of the people, the working class and other sections. They saw a united front as an electoral instrument to maximise electoral gains.
"It is true that Congress party or the Left have not developed sufficiently its independent strength and it is not in a position to draw these parties towards united platform for united action," he said. Karat claimed the LF in West Bengal was the strongest united front with a strong mass base over the decades. "In recent period, the attacks of the ruling classes and imperialism have sharpened," he said adding but it was more concentrated in West Bengal.
Stating that steps had to be taken to strengthen the support of workers and peasants, a section of which had become alienated, he said CPI(M), being biggest constituent of the Left Front, had to carry forward the Left's programmes "by overcoming the mistakes and weaknesses".
Referring to the Left's withdrawal of support to the UPA-I government, Karat said this was done due to its "departure" from the common minimum programme in economic and foreign policies.
Criticising the Centre's decision to hike the prices of petrol and diesel, he said that Left parties would take up an agitation against the 'anti-people and neo-liberal economic policies' of the UPA government. PTI
