KANNUR: The organisational report presented at the CPM party congress is, for obvious reasons, critical of its Telangana unit for ideological deviation by forging a caste-based alliance in gross violation of the party directive. In an interview with TNIE, party Telangana secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram explains the failed social experiment.
What's the current political scenario in Telangana and where does CPM stand?
Chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao and his TRS are anti-BJP. This time around, KCR seems serious about this fight. That's a welcome move. At the same time, we have many differences with TRS. We are not going for any alliance with TRS. There will only be issue-based support.
The organisational report has been critical of the Telangana unit for forging a caste-based alliance?
In 2018, we formed the Bahujan Left Front (BLF) and contested the polls. Some community organisations were part of the front. The intention was to project an alternative before the people. We proposed that seats would be given as per their community representation. The same was conveyed to higher committees too. Later, the party central committee (CC) criticised the Telangana unit for the faux pas. We had declared that if the front got elected, the chief ministership would be given to a person belonging to the backward community. The CC observed that it was wrong. Another lapse was that other Left parties like the CPI were not part of the alliance. This time, we are trying to mobilise all Left and secular parties.
So, was it the open declaration of caste that was criticised?
It was not a purely caste-based alliance. There were instances of subjective sloganeering too during the elections. The CC was correct in correcting us. During inner-party discussions, it has been pointed out that caste has been ignored. Caste system is a reality in India. Its impact is very much there. Without addressing such issues, we cannot move ahead with the revolutionary movement.
Without mentioning caste, how are we to take up caste-related issues? Mentioning caste itself is not wrong. You would be wrong if you tend to delude yourself that all societal evils could be addressed on the sole basis of caste. It's not practical either. In Uttar Pradesh, caste-based parties had come to power. However, caste-related issues have not been resolved yet. But it did give some kind of psychological satisfaction to Dalits that people from their community too had come to power.
The democratic aspect comes into play here. Ensuring psychological satisfaction is also part and parcel of revolution. One particular village with people belonging to Madika, an SC community, has been neglected by authorities. If the government is not providing drinking water, we should openly demand that you should provide drinking water to Madika community. Just by mentioning a particular name, we do not promote caste politics.
In that case, why did the CC correct the Telangana unit?
There are a few undesirable trends within the party itself. Party documents have pointed out that there's a kind of reluctance within the party in taking up social issues. For long, we have neglected these issues. As far as BLF is concerned, it was openly stated that if you elected us, there would be a CM from the backward community. Such an open declaration of caste should've been avoided. Our candidate list made a mention of each one's caste. That too was incorrect. The decisions regarding BLF were taken keeping the leadership in the loop. During the elections, politburo members including Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, M A Baby and Manik Sarkar too were part of campaigning. It was not my personal decision.
What about discussions on an alliance with Congress?
Congress is not sincere in its anti-BJP fight. In fact, during a recent bypoll, it even supported the BJP, just to defeat TRS. They have been taking indirect support from BJP too. The BJP is yet to become a major threat in Telangana even now. In the coming polls too, it won't be a fight between TRS and BJP.
What's the focus area for Telangana CPM now?
Strengthening the party organisation and taking up local struggles will be the main focus, not just the elections. We have come up with a slew of measures to identify auxiliary members. The party is now in the process of forging an alliance of Left, democratic, secular and social forces.