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CPI(M) Congress to focus on third alternative

Special Correspondent

Based on policies, says Karat

Prakash Karat

NEW DELHI: The six-day 19th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), opening in Coimbatore on Saturday, will provide the direction for the party’s struggle against the neo-liberal economic policies, fight against imperialist penetration and carry forward the work to isolate the communal forces.

“While working for the forging of the Left and democratic front and the Left and democratic alternative, which is the real alternative to the bourgeois-landlord policies, the party will have to take the initiative to present a third alternative which can meet the needs of the current situation. This party Congress will discuss how to shape such an alternative based on commonly agreed policies,” says CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat.

In an article titled “On to the 19th Congress,” which appears in the latest issue of the party organ, People’s Democracy, Mr. Karat says the Congress is being held at a time when “the global economy is being shaken by the onset of recession in the U.S. and the crisis engulfing the financial system around the world.” He reiterated the party’s view that the finance-driven imperialist globalisation was unsustainable.

‘Long struggle ahead’

Mr. Karat says the CPI(M) and the Left have fought against the emerging strategic alliance with the United States.

“Attention has been focussed on the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation agreement since last August. However, this is only one part of the strategic alliance. The CPI(M) will ensure that the nuclear deal does not go forward. But there is a long struggle ahead. The defence framework agreement should be nullified. What has to be accomplished is the disentanglement from a strategic tie-up with the U.S.”

On the struggle without let-up against the communal forces represented by the BJP-RSS combine, Mr. Karat said though the BJP had suffered an electoral setback in the last Lok Sabha elections, the latent danger of the Hindutva forces remains.

“In the last three years, the BJP has fallen back on its Hindutva agenda and sought to push through its communal platform. We have countered this along with other democratic and secular forces. The danger is that with the harmful economic policies of the UPA government, the discontent engendered can be utilised by the BJP. The loss of government in the Congress-ruled States of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh underline this threat,” Mr. Karat said.

Stressing that the rise in prices of essential commodities and the agrarian crisis are the two major problems faced by the people and the country, Mr. Karat said the party would have to chalk out a plan of action to tackle the twin issues.

Terming as “shameful” the UPA government’s attempts to claim credit for producing the highest number of billionaires in Asia between 2006 and 2007, he said that was how the Congress-led government has made a mockery of the “aam admi” slogan. While the government was boasting of the high growth rate of GDP during the past four years, the pattern of growth was “highly distorted.” Rejecting such a path of economic reforms, Mr. Karat said the CPI(M) would work for an alternative set of policies.

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