Thiruvananthapuram: The 45th Communist Party of India (CPI) State Conference in Kerala on Wednesday began with the party expressing concerns over the crumbling of the INDIA bloc over the lack of trust among parties and differences on seat sharing.
Inaugurating the delegate session in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, former Rajya Sabha MP and CPI general secretary D. Raja said the secular parties under the INDIA bloc should remain committed to uplifting the lives of people as well as to defeat the BJP-RSS to protect the Constitution and democracy. The leader also raised concerns over the dwindling Left presence in Parliament.
Raja alleged the fascist forces of the RSS-BJP are turning India into a theocratic, religion-based nation. Referring to the voter fraud allegations in Bihar, the communist leader alleged the Election Commission has completely failed to ensure people’s right to vote, and voter fraud can happen in any state.
He said regional parties in the INDIA bloc should have mutual trust and understanding at the time of seat-sharing talks.
“We keep telling all secular democratic parties they must come together. And at the time of elections, there must be mutual accommodation. Mutual trust and seat-sharing becomes a huge problem, as we have pointed out in our political resolution. Otherwise, the results in Delhi, the results in Haryana, the results in Maharashtra would have been different. Things would have been different at the national level, inside Parliament, and outside Parliament. Why is this not happening? All the parties must do serious introspection,” Raja said.
Held in Alappuzha from Wednesday, the conference is attended by 528 delegates from across the state and will conclude with a public meeting at the Alappuzha beach and a volunteer march on Friday evening. The party’s national conference is scheduled to be held in Chandigarh from 21 to 25 September. On Wednesday, the CPI’s state unit also launched its official YouTube channel, named Kanal (meaning ember), to spread its ideology and highlight its role in Kerala’s history. The channel was launched with the help of senior journalists including former Telegraph editor R. Rajagopal and former Doordarshan head Byju Chandran.
Addressing delegates, Raja underlined that the CPI’s strength is diminishing in Indian polity even as it celebrates its centenary, and called for the unity of all communist parties. He added that the CPI should grow beyond Kerala for that.
Formed in Kanpur in 1925, the CPI was the largest opposition party in the first general elections held in independent India. The party also became the first to form a democratically elected communist government in India in 1957 under the leadership of E.M.S. Namboodiripad in Kerala. Following ideological divisions, the breakaway faction of CPI(M) was formed in 1964, and the CPI gradually saw a decline with the emergence of regional parties. At present, the party has its strongest presence in Kerala and is the biggest ally in the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
“We must strive for Left unity. We must strengthen Left unity at all levels. We appeal, and other Left parties also must seriously think over this,” he said. Raja said the communist party has a strong Marxist ideology, which should be applied to Indian reality to achieve socialism. He said the party should also work to liberate society from caste and class discrimination.
The leader also underlined that the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which includes CPI and CPI(M), should return to power in Kerala in the upcoming crucial local body and assembly polls.
“The LDF government should come back to power, and in the forthcoming assembly elections, the LDF will have to win the elections. The LDF will have to continue to win the confidence of the people of Kerala. It is imperative in the emerging situation in the country. So, we’ll have to plan for the success of the LDF in the forthcoming assembly elections, and in the forthcoming local body elections in Kerala,” he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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