CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury speaks to The Hindu on the joint Opposition efforts on COVID-19 and farm laws, says it is for the parties like the BSP, the AAP and the Chief Ministers of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to answer on why they aren’t standing with the rest of the Opposition against the government. He cast aside the fears that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will overshadow the party.
On the question of the pandemic and the three farm laws, the Opposition parties have issued four joint statements since December last year. Could you talk us through the efforts to bring everyone on board?
During the course of the first wave, 21 parties had a virtual meeting following which we came up with a joint memorandum suggesting measures that the government must immediately take - including direct cash transfers and free food for the vulnerable sections. The government, of course, has never responded to any of our letters whether written jointly or individually. Steps that ought to have been taken last year were not taken and we are paying the price for it. On the questions of saving people’s lives and their livelihood, there is a commonality between the Opposition parties. In the time of the pandemic where physical consultations can’t take place, it takes a little longer to reach out to every one either through virtual meetings or phones. But in my mind, it is absolutely necessary for the parties to come on one platform to hold the government accountable.
The BSP, which was a signatory to the joint Opposition letter of May 2 urging the government to streamline distribution of medical oxygen, has not been a signatory to the two later letters. Overall, they have been erratic about their participation in the unified Opposition effort. The AAP on the other hand has never been part of any of these efforts. Is it the AAP and the BSP’s reluctance or is it the reluctance of the rest of the Opposition parties to bring them on board.
It is for the BSP and the AAP to answer this question. The BSP signed the May 2 letter and then the U.P. local body elections came and didn’t sign the subsequent two letters. It is for them to answer on why they stayed away. It is similar for the AAP. In fact, the Chief Ministers of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have not been part of any of these efforts. We want every Opposition party to join in, especially when the country is going through this COVID catastrophe. We also must remember that the Indian economy was already on downslide before the pandemic. With the onset of the pandemic, there has been immense loss of livelihood. To counter that, the government should have taken measures such as direct cash transfer and free food, which every other country in the world has done.
Will these efforts be limited to joint letters or will we have some sort of a coalition come together for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled for next year.
The U.P. polls are still some time away and a lot of water will flow in the Ganga before that. Unfortunately, there are bodies also floating in the Ganga because of the misadministration of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in the State. Lessons have to be learnt from the results of the recent Assembly polls. Except for Assam, where the difference of vote between the BJP and the secular parties was miniscule allowing the BJP to scrape through, in all the other States the BJP has come a cropper. Look at the results of the local body elections in U.P. and Gujarat. It is writing on the wall - people want the secular forces to come together against the BJP.
The CPI(M) claimed that all the Ministers from the first Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet were changed as part of a policy decision, but couldn’t the party make an exception for former Health Minister K.K. Shailaja?
The decision on who to include and exclude from the Cabinet was taken by the State committee. And it was an unanimous decision.
K.K. Shailaja’s contribution in managing the pandemic is widely accepted and appreciated within Kerala, within the country and across the world. But remember she was also a first-time Minister in the outgoing Cabinet. The exception would not have worked for two reasons. First it is not a correct position to take and second it is not workable.
Also read: State panel’s decision to drop Shailaja: CPI (M)
If you were to make an exception for Shailaja, then what about Finance Minister Thomas Isaac. He too was very successful and responsible for developing the alternate Kerala development mode. Also what about PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran, who was equally efficient. And there are many such examples. Even in my case, the two-term rule for the Rajya Sabha was strictly adhered to despite a lot of outcry. Once you make an exception then that becomes the rule. And as far as promoting women leaders is concerned, the outgoing Cabinet had two women Ministers and this time we have three.
There is a fear that Brand Pinarayi Vijayan will tower over the CPI(M) overshadowing the party. Your comments.
Such thinking can only emerge from parties that have a high command culture that turned to accept a supreme leader. And this is true for most political parties. The CPI(M) has an entirely different style and method. We are a party with a vibrant inner-party democracy. For us it is the collective is always above the individual. How many times has the party rejected the view of the general secretary to go with the collective view.
And that is not just in my case, there are many other precedents including the often quoted example of Jyoti Basu who didn’t become PM despite support of then general secretary comrade Surjeet because the party collectively felt that it would be wrong. Only those who don’t understand how the party works raise these questions.
What is the future for the party after total annihilation in West Bengal?
The dominant feeling of the electorate in Bengal was to keep the BJP out, because of their own campaign which was antagonistic to the ethos and culture of Bengal. The paramount question that the Bengal voters asked is who could defeat the BJP. And this sentiment was not limited to Bengal alone. People in Tamil Nadu and Kerala too voted to keep the BJP away from the administration. In Kerala, the BJP lost its lone seat. In Bengal the anti-BJP vote was cast rather than pro-TMC. And in a “first past the post” system that we inherited from the British, in a bipartisan contest the third force gets squeezed out. The actual political battle has just begun. The CPI(M) fielded a lot of fresh faces and new blood has been injected into the party, who will now be the future of the party.
Wasn’t an alliance with the Indian Secular Front-led by Furfura Sheikh cleric Abbas Siddiqui blatantly wrong and is the party reviewing its decision?
A review is under way for all the States, not only Bengal, which will throw up its own conclusions. Our objective in Bengal was to rally all the secular forces. The Indian Secular Front, though headed by a certain person with a certain past, had in its leadership marginalised classes, dalits, tribals. We go by what the party stands for.
