CPI(M) Improving Organisation, but Is Factionalism the Real Issue?

At the CPI(M) plenum, party organisation is on the cards, but is factionalism the real issue?

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Thirty-seven years ago, the CPI(M) held an organisational party plenum to discuss the changing political landscape, and how to respond to it. Just a year after, it came to power in Bengal, a bastion it would hold for the next 34 years.

But the party wanted more. It wanted to expand beyond West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, to the Hindi belt. Nearly four decades later, it is clear that the strategy and tactics proposed in 1978 have not worked. Far from expanding into the Hindi heartland, the CPI(M) was routed in Bengal and is hoping to return to power in Kerala where it lost by a slim margin.

At the ongoing organisational plenum in Kolkata, the party is still dealing with the same issues, while new ones, which put a question mark on its survival as a key player in Indian politics, have joined the corpus of partisan concerns.

Now, just months before the Kerala and West Bengal elections, can the plenum help India’s largest democratic left party formulate a viable roadmap to electoral success?

Fighting BJP-RSS on Top of the Agenda

General Secretary (GS) Sitaram Yechury has introduced a draft resolution, making one thing clear – the Sangh Parivar is enemy number one as far as the party is concerned.

The CPI(M) is a consistent political force that advocates and struggles for the unity of our multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic population against all efforts at sharpening communal polarisation and thwarting the RSS/BJP designs to impose their project of a rabidly intolerant fascistic ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

Draft Resolution on Organisation introduced by Sitaram Yechury

While the Left has been consistently against the BJP, especially since the saffron party’s meteoric rise in the ’90s, it has struggled with its relationship, both electoral and ideological, with the Congress.

With the BJP plastered on the national scene like never before and Mamata Banerjee seemingly unassailable in Bengal, the CPI(M) needs the Congress now more than ever.

However, that’s easier said than done.

Left Independence vs Electoral Relevance

Unlike his predecessor Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury is seen as more accessible, as well as someone with friends across the political spectrum – from the Congress to regional parties and the Janta Parivaar. While his party has stood with the Congress on most issues in the Rajya Sabha, where Sitaram is a prominent voice, this has not translated into electoral alliances so far.

In the crucial Bihar assembly elections, the CPI(M) opted for left unity over an alliance with Nitish Kumar’s Mahagathbandhan.

As The Quint reported on November 11, the JD(U) was keen to have the CPI(M) in its ‘Grand Alliance’. Given how well the Mahagathbandhan performed, it is a decision that the CPI(M) is sure to regret.

But hindsight is always 20/20, and allying with the Congress is never an easy proposition for the comrades. From 1947, various factions and leaders have been defined, at least in part, by their attitude towards the Congress party and the freedom movement. Left unity and independence is something the CPI(M) may want to strive for, but political realities present a different picture.

Now, with the Bengal elections upon them, the CPI(M) is looking to ally with the Congress, perhaps its only hope to revive its fortunes in a state where it was once unbeatable.

The Party Line Problem: Discord at the Top?

Comrade Sitaram Yechury is open to, and even keen on an alliance with the Congress. However, within thePolitburo (PB), there are some reservations on the issue.

CPI(M) member

In his speech after he became the GS, Sitaram did not use the word communist once. He stuck with ‘socialist’ – a much broader term. His ascension to the CPI(M)‘s top spot was not without its share of drama, with the ‘Karat’ faction trying its best to make SR Pillai the GS.

According to party sources, Sitaram enjoys the support of the Bengal unit. However, within the politburo, the highest decision-making body in the CPI(M), Prakash and Brinda Karat still hold considerable sway. There is also talk that Brinda Karat wants to lead the party after Sitaram’s first term is over, and is working towards building support towards that end.

Prakash harboured the image of a doctrinaire hardliner, something which many communists appreciate. Sources say Brinda is now trying to cultivate that image, predicating it in opposition to Sitaram.

“Hardliners are not the need of the hour, alliances are,” said one party veteran. An alliance with the Congress and other secular parties is something many party members are amenable to. But is it too late?

Recently, Mamata Banerjee has become more than a little friendly with other parties. The TMC stood with the Congress in Parliament over the National Herald issue, and has been sharing a bonhomie with Nitish Kumar, attending his swearing-in ceremony and inviting him to Bengal.

If her manoeuvres have worked, Banerjee might succeed in isolating the CPI(M), at least in the state. If that is the case, delays and in-fighting may well cost the party a chance to return to power in West Bengal.