NDA-2 is Joint venture of RSS, BJP: Karat

The CPI (Marxist) 21st Party Congress accused Narendra Modi government as a joint enterprise of the RSS and the BJP with the parent partner holding the majority stake. The congress gave a call for forging left unity and building a strong alternative alliance of left and democratic forces to counter right-wing offensive with a strong left platform.

Addressing party congress at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday General Secretary Prakash Karat charged that the Modi government for opening the way for Hindutva forces to advance their communal agenda and adopting pro-business policies.

The six-day congress is expected to witness a change of guard with the party set to elect a new general secretary. Senior leader Sitaram Yechury, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, is widely tipped to take over the mantle from Karat whose ten year long tenure saw steady erosion of the CPI (M)’s support base.

The party congress attended by 840 delegates from all over the country is set to deliberate on new strategies and political tactics to revive the sagging fortune of the party in the backdrop of criticism that the left parties are fast losing relevance in the changing socio-political scenario after the CPM strength in parliament nosedived from a mighty 60 i8n 2004 to nine seats in 2014.

Setting out an agenda for the party ahead, Karat said that CPI (M) would actively take up social issues and fight for the rights of the women, Adivasis, Dalits and minorities. The representatives of five Left parties—S Sudhakar Reddy (CPI), Provash Ghosh (SUCI (C)), Abani Roy (RSP), Debabrata Biswas (AIFB), and Kavitha Krishnan (CPI(ML) (Liberation))—attended the inaugural session.