A day after CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury openly batted for a change in political alignments, the party on Friday put out a statement clarifying that only the “process of discussions” has begun and nothing has been finalised.
Speaking to presspersons at the end of a two-day Polit Bureau meeting of the party on Thursday, Mr. Yechury said, “The conditions have changed since 2015 and we will meet in 2018 again. The basic essential element of Marxism is concrete analysis of concrete conditions. Conditions have changed, so our analysis and alignment accordingly will change.”
Political-tactical line
The “political-tactical” line fixed during the 2015 Party Congress says that while the main direction of the struggle is against the BJP, the party will continue to oppose the Congress, which the CPI(M) blames for helping the BJP come to power. “The political line precludes having any understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress,” the 2015 resolution says.
A section of the CPI(M) led by Mr. Yechury wants the party to take a pragmatic view and have argued that without an amendment to this line, the party will be isolated.
It cannot be part of any pre- or post-poll Opposition alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Kerala lobby within the party remains adamant that there can be no change to the party’s current position.
Draft resolution
“The Polit Bureau wishes to clarify that the process of discussion for preparing the draft political resolution has just begun. How to carry forward the main task of fighting the BJP, as decided in the last party Congress, will be finalised and the draft resolution will be placed before the Central Committee,” the statement said. It is a clear indication that any amendment to the existing political line of the party will be met with stout opposition at every step.
Party insiders claim that it is an effort to stall the change.
“They will be very foolish to deny that the situation has not changed since 2015. So in turn, they are trying wriggle out on technical grounds, claiming that the Polit Bureau has no authority to decide,” one of its members said.
Discussions were held on the draft political resolution at the two-day meeting. The Polit Bureau will meet again on October 2 to discuss it further.
This will then be presented in the Central Committee, which is the highest decision-making body of the party.
The Central Committee meeting is scheduled for the third week of October.
Once the resolution is finalised, any party member or even a sympathiser can propose an amendment. The resolution will be considered final only once it is endorsed by the Party Congress, which is scheduled for April next year.