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Friday, Mar 28, 2008
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‘Price rise and agrarian crisis, issues the government has not addressed’

Vinay Kumar

‘The two issues will find prominence in the party Congress.’

— Photo: H. Satish

Prakash Karat … “We would like to strengthen the unity that will help us to rally all democratic and secular forces.”

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat talks about the various issues before the 19th party Congress due to begin in Coimbatore on March 29, in an interview to Vinay Kumar in New Delhi. Excerpts:

What are the key areas of focus for the CPI(M) at the party Congress in Coimbatore?

In our party Congress, we shall be adopting a political resolution which would give the main political direction and the tactical line to be taken in the coming period.

This is the main resolution that will be discussed exhaustively and intensively in the Congress. How the party will intervene in the political situation in the future will be determined by this resolution. In the last three years, since the last Congress, the party has worked for isolating the communal forces, ensuring that the UPA government fulfils some of its pro-people commitments given in the Common Minimum Programme. At the same time, we have opposed some of the steps taken by the government which we think are against the interests of the people of the country. The party Congress will assess how we have fulfilled the direction given by the last Congress vis-À-vis relations with the UPA government. The party Congress will also provide a direction on how the party can rally other democratic and secular forces so that we can go towards forming a third alternative in the country.

You have referred to a “Third Alternative.” Would you like to differentiate between a “Third Alternative” and a “Third Front?”

We do not use the term “Third Front” as it gets associated more with [an] electoral alliance. When we talk about a “Third Alternative,” the emphasis is on alternative policies and we would like some like-minded parties to come together on a commonly agreed platform of policies and work together so that it will be a political formation based on a common set of policies. We are working towards that. We think this is required at the present stage. It will be an alternative distinct from policies which are pursued by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In your address at the Communist Party of India Congress in Hyderabad, your stress was more on forging Left unity. How do you see it coming through?

In the recent period, the Left parties have had big electoral successes in the Assembly elections of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. We would like to build on that, and at the national level we would like to further strengthen the unity that will help us to rally all democratic and secular forces.

Do you see the need to take steps to electorally register and increase the presence of the Left parties in the northern States?

In the second agenda of our party Congress, we will be discussing the political organisation report which will concentrate on the organisational position of the party. How we have developed the party, what are our gains and where are our weaknesses. In that context, we will definitely discuss how the party has grown outside the three major States. This, of course, includes the Hindi-speaking region but also other areas where we are weak. We had taken some steps as per the direction given in the last Congress and we will review that. We will come to some conclusion about what should be done on what we call the uneven nature of our party’s growth. The party has grown in the last three years but it has grown in an uneven fashion. We would like to see what steps we need to take to develop the party in areas where we are weak.

There are issues where the UPA government’s report card has not been up to the mark. What will be the core issues that you will discuss, particularly in the light of the fact that general elections are hardly a year away?

We do not look at these issues in terms of electoral prospects; we see price rise and the agrarian crisis as two major issues which the UPA government has not addressed. After the party Congress takes up these two major questions — both for popular mobilisation to compel the government to take appropriate measures to curb price rise and to tackle the problems arising out of agrarian crisis — they will form part of our future programmes. The two issues will find prominence.

The Left parties have also brought to the centre-stage the issue of pursuing an independent foreign policy. How do you see them taking up the issue?

Since our last Congress in April 2005, foreign policy and strategic relations have come to the forefront and we have succeeded in bringing them to the country’s attention. As far as the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal is concerned, we see it as part of a wider strategic alliance with the U.S. The stand of the CPI(M) and the Left is well known in this regard. But we shall discuss how we can create greater public support for the pursuance of an independent foreign policy.

The nuclear deal with the U.S. also forms a crucial component… a lot of time and energy of the Left parties have gone into tackling this. How do you see the scenario after the U.S. visit of External Affairs Mini ster Pranab Mukherjee?

I do not think the visit has any bearing on the process of discussion which we are now having with the UPA. We have said that talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding India-specific safeguards must be discussed in the UPA-Left Committee. The committee will have to arrive at some finding at a later date. I think that is going to continue. Till the committee finishes its work, I do not think there is going to be any movement ahead.

Mr. Mukherjee has also emphasised that India cannot commit to a timeline in wrapping up the civilian nuclear deal with the U.S.

I have said, let the UPA-Left Committee finish its work.

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‘Price rise and agrarian crisis, issues the government has not addressed’