The Congress’ politics cannot be dictated by the CPI(M), feels party MP and former Minister Jairam Ramesh.
“The Congress should not outsource its thinking. It should think on its own,” he said when asked about the party’s role in the ongoing protests against the National Democratic Alliance government, on Sunday. He was talking to a section of the media on the sidelines of the Kerala Literature Festival.
“The Congress has to fight the BJP… There is a BJP trap and a CPI(M) trap, you should avoid both traps,” Mr. Ramesh said. Being a national party, the Congress would have to look at national politics. “Pinarayi Vijayan only looks at Kerala politics. Sitaram Yechury looks at national politics and he has more influence on the Congress than the CPI(M). It is easier for CPI(M) leaders to meet Rahul Gandhi than Congress leaders,” he claimed. Mr. Ramesh said that the CPI(M) was relevant only in one State, but the Congress was relevant in 29 States.
Sensitive issue
The Congress leader said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was a sensitive issue, but the Gross Domestic Product was more important than the CAA and the National Population Register. “The most important issue in India today is economic crisis. Inflation is going up, growth is coming down. Jobs are stagnant, they are being lost. Nobody is talking about it,” he said.
“The BJP wants to keep the debate on the CAA and the NPR. The Congress should lead an agitation on economic crisis, not the CAA or the NPR because economic crisis is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, it affects everybody, whereas people see NPR as a Hindu-Muslim issue,” he said. Mr. Ramesh said that the Congress had to learn to deal with regional parties. They want respect and dignity. “Congress made a mistake in 2009. In 2004, the United Progressive Alliance won and the Congress took all coalition parties together. In 2009, we got 200-odd seats and became very arrogant. There was no Common Minimum Programme in 2009. The BJP is making the same mistake with the regional parties now,” he said.
