The Left movement has to remain strong in India as its demise will be a disaster for the country, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has said. He was speaking at the centenary celebrations of architect Laurie Baker here on Sunday.
“Let me be very clear about it. The demise of the Left is going to be a disaster for India. We are political rivals. But, I am the first to say this, that India cannot afford the demise of the Left. The Left’s attitude also has to change. They have to understand that people’s aspirations are changing. Society is changing,” he said. The remark came towards the fag end of his speech on Baker. He began though with a jibe at the Left over its shrinking space in the country.
“I didn’t realise Laurie Baker was born in 1917, a historic year. It was the year of Gandhi’s Champaran satyagraha. It was also the birth year of Indira Gandhi. And in Kerala, how can I forget that 1917 was also the year of the great October Revolution — although the centenary of the revolution was celebrated only in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. Now, no longer in Tripura, after yesterday’s defeat,” said Mr. Ramesh, who then turned and shook hands with CPI(M) leader and state Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, assuring the audience that the jibe was in a lighter vein. “This little bit of ribbing always happens between us,” he said.
Later, with a clear shift in tone, Mr. Ramesh said the Left needed to be strong in India. The remarks assume importance in light of the recent debates in the Left and Congress circles on the possibility of an alliance at the national level to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party. The question of whether the CPI(M) should align with the Congress in this struggle had caused clear divisions within the party.
Cong open to idea
The Kerala faction led by former general secretary Prakash Karat though was against any truck with neo-liberal forces. This tactical line for no alliance with the Congress was approved by the party central committee earlier this year. The CPI(M)’s loss in Tripura has triggered talks of a rethink on this line. The Congress, meanwhile, had taken a more open stand, even offering support to Mr. Yechury to return to Rajya Sabha.
