Reiterating that the objective of secular forces is to defeat the BJP-led NDA government in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan has said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the Prime Ministerial post could be considered along with that of other contenders after the polls. In an interview on Tuesday, he said that the priority was to unite all secular forces in the country, and that other issues should not be allowed to affect this task. Excerpts:
What kinds of problems do you think will arise if the Prime Ministerial candidate is announced before the election?
The DMK has proposed Rahul Gandhi’s name. The Congress has won the Assembly elections in three States, and there is hope that its prospects would be good in many other States as well. But we should not allow the BJP to politicise the candidature of Mr. Gandhi and prevent secular parties from coming together against it in the Lok Sabha polls.
There is a perception that the Left parties are opposing Rahul Gandhi’s candidature because it will affect them in the States where they are a dominant force…
I don’t think that is an issue. The central committee of the party has already made it clear that we could come to an electoral understanding with the DMK even if the Congress is a part of it, as we are driven by the motive of defeating the BJP. Our leaders and cadre in the States where the Left parties are strong are fully aware that if there is a secular government after the election, it will include the Congress. We do not expect a government without the participation of the Congress.
The BJP is the only party that has consistently gained ground in the country, despite the strategies devised by the secular parties to arrest its growth. How do you explain this? Is the appeasement of minorities by other political parties, as alleged by the BJP, responsible for its growth?
You should keep in mind that though the BJP has formed the government at the Centre, its vote share has not crossed 31%. It was able to form the government because the votes of the Opposition parties in many States got split. A strong Opposition could change this trend. I have the same answer for the allegation that the appeasement of minorities has paved the way for the BJP’s ascendance in the country. Of course, the minorities would not have voted for the BJP. But the Hindus, who are a majority, have also not totally thrown their weight behind the BJP. Had they done that, the BJP would have witnessed a substantial spike in its vote share.
Today is the day when 44 Dalits were burnt to death in Keezhavenmani. Some argue that the Communists view the incident as a class struggle rather than looking at it from a caste angle…
They were massacred not because they were Dalits, but because they revolted against the landlord Gopalakrishna Naidu over issues relating to wages, leasing of land and the cruel treatment meted out to agricultural workers, including whipping and drenching them in cow dung. What Keezhavenmani witnessed was not a clash between Dalits and non-Dalits. In Keezhavenmani, it [the victims] was Dalits, and in some other places, people from other communities. Many leaders and cadres belonging to other communities were also murdered for leading and joining the Communist movement. It is wrong to portray the incident as a caste issue.