The 22nd Congress of the CPI-M at Hyderabad ended on Sunday. The party’s schism on how to get it out of a rut was evident. Sitaram Yechury continues to be general secretary for a second term. The central committee’s expansion was approved. Differences remained over the political resolution on election strategy. The BJP remains the main enemy. But an understanding with the Congress seems remote. The Kerala and Tripura units wanted an alliance while the West Bengal unit was sceptical. Prakash Karat had long opposed an understanding though Yechury was for some time in favour of a tactical alliance. The Congress did not oppose the electoral understanding proposed by Brinda Karat. But she did not approve of the kind of alliance that the Left had with the Congress in the West Bengal assembly elections. Yechury finally decided on state units working out their own strategy. There was a split in the communist party in 1964 as the CPI regarded the Indian National Congress as representing the national bourgeoisie while the CPI-M disagreed.
The CPI-M seems blind to the major social and economic tremors in the country – farm distress, the exhaustion of Mandal politics and the souring of communal relations. A change is called for in the political spectrum. Communists should stop fighting over jargonistic polemics and show some pragmatism in their approach. If the debate in Hyderabad is any indicator of things to come then the CPI-M has chosen to continue as a marginal political entity.
