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Karat defends Jyoti Basu’s remarks on capitalism

Vinay Kumar

“Confused, contradictory reporting in the media”

‘We need to undertake some alternative policies within the capitalist system’
Highlights four points of programme of the party

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday defended the party’s veteran leader and the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu’s recent comments on the issue of capitalism. The remarks on the role of the Left Front government had been “reported in a confused and contradictory manner in the media,” it said.

Asserting that Mr. Basu’s remarks were on the nature of capitalist development in the State and the role of the Left Front government, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that on the basis of “these reports, some political leaders have also come out with equally confused and misplaced reactions.”

Flays BJP, Congress

Mr. Karat said it was amusing to see some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress portray the approach of the CPI(M) in simplistic terms of socialism versus capitalism.

“For them socialism only denotes a slogan to be used as a smokescreen for promoting the interests of big capitalists and foreign capital,” he said.

Mr. Karat said only those who were ignorant of the programme of the CPI(M) could talk of the party saying “goodbye to socialism and welcome to capitalism.”

Reacting to criticism by political parties as well as the CPI(M) ally, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Mr. Karat said the RSP, unlike the CPI(M), had declared socialism as its immediate goal. He said the RSP could be asked why it had been working over all these years as part of Left-led governments to implement reforms and welfare measures “within the capitalist system.”

The CPI(M) general secretary highlighted four points of the programme of the party: pursuing alternative policies within the capitalist system, strengthening the struggle for alternative policies advocated by the Left and democratic platform at the all-India level; realising that the advance to socialism will be realisable only after the Left and democratic forces were strong enough to build an alternative at the national level; and undertaking industrialisation and economic development in a manner where the interests of the workers and the poorer sections were protected.

The CPI(M) leader said his party “knows fully well that in States where the Left is in government, they cannot build socialism but undertake some alternative policies within the capitalist system.”

Land reforms

Land reforms within the constitutional limits was one such step taken by the party-led governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. It was on the basis of this programmatic direction that it joined the State governments “knowing fully well that it has limited powers within the Constitution.”

Elaborating, Mr. Karat said that while working within the capitalist system in a situation where the Centre imposes “neo-liberal policies,” the Left-led governments had to undertake industrialisation and economic development while protecting the interests of workers and the poor.

Though the Left had been in office in West Bengal for 30 years, capitalist development had been taking place there as in the rest of India. These State governments were helping to strengthen the struggle for alternative policies advocated by the Left and democratic forces at the national level.

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