new delhi, May 25
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has expressed deep concern over what it described as the consolidation of “Hindutva communal forces” across the country, while announcing a nationwide political campaign on issues ranging from electoral rights and labour codes to fuel price hikes and unemployment following its Central Committee meeting held in New Delhi from May 22 to 24. In a communique issued on Monday after the meeting at HKS Surjeet Bhavan, the CPI(M) said the recent Assembly election results reflected a “major concern” over the growing spread of the BJP even in states where it won only a limited number of seats. “A broad feature of these election results is the consolidation of Hindutva communal forces in the society and their assumption of power in West Bengal,” the party said, adding that the BJP’s return to power in Assam was “a matter of deep concern for all secular, progressive and democratic forces.”
The party said it would conduct detailed reviews of its electoral setbacks in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam. The Kerala state committee will hold meetings in Thiruvananthapuram from June 5 to 8, with Polit Bureau members participating in the discussions. Similar review exercises are expected in other states before the Central Committee meets again in July.
At the same time, the CPI(M) described its return to the West Bengal Assembly as “a positive development” and noted that a party-backed independent candidate had won from Mahe in Puducherry.
The communique also sharpened the party’s criticism of the Congress within the INDIA bloc, accusing it of undermining opposition unity. “The attitude of the Congress towards other opposition parties is not helpful in building the unity of secular forces,” the CPI(M) said, while condemning allegations made by Congress leaders during the Kerala elections that the Left party had an understanding with the BJP.
“The CPI(M) is a committed fighter against communalism and a part of the INDIA bloc,” the statement asserted. The party also targeted the Election Commission of India over the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that “lakhs of voters were denied their constitutional right to vote on flimsy grounds through a new category, ‘logical discrepancies’.”
