Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | 'Modi afraid of Left's ideological influence': CPI's D Raja
The Left in India is at a crossroads. You had seen your electoral performance plummeting to the historical lowest in 2019. How important is this Lok Sabha election for you?
There are two aspects. One, it is important for the Left to continue to be a force to reckon with. It is important for the Left to play an active role in shaping the policies of the country and mobilising the people to fight for rights. Secondly, unless the Left remains strong, it is difficult to contain the emerging right-wing forces in the country. One should not forget that the decline of the Left helped the right-wing forces to emerge as a strong force in India. This has to be understood by other secular democratic parties. The Left is the only uncompromising force against right-wing communal fascist political forces. So, the Left will have to increase its strength in Parliament. It should have a good presence in Parliament. In the last Lok Sabha, we had only five members -- two each for CPI and CPI(M) in Tamil Nadu and one for CPI(M) in Kerala. This time we must see that number go up. That will give confidence not only for the Left movement but for other democratic forces also.
But people are not voting for you despite you being in the forefront fighting for rights. Why is it that people do not find the overwhelming need to put more Left people in Parliament?
It is a fact that our vote percentage and numbers have declined. It is a serious issue and the Left parties have to discuss it. Now we are in the midst of elections. Once elections are over, the Left parties must sit and discuss with all seriousness. The Left will have to understand how to work in parliamentary democracy and how to mobilise people within the Parliamentary democratic system. So there are many ideological, political and organisational questions. All these questions need to be discussed within each party and among the Left also.
So, are you saying the rise of right-wing forces had a role to play in the Left’s decline?
I will put it like this. The decline of the Left gave an advantage to the right-wing forces because that is why Narendra Modi himself called communism as dangerous. He even calls the Congress manifesto Leftist. He singled out the Left and it is the very impact of the Left. The ideological influence of the Left continues and it bothers the right-wing forces because it is the Left which will finally stand up. Modi thinks he can manage through central agencies, targeting individual leaders and parties through intimidation and crippling them. But it will be difficult for them to confront the Left.
But how will you convince people?
People know the Left is standing up against the right-wing forces. We should take people along with us and that is the problem. We have to convince people to come forward and vote for us. But one good thing in the present election is that the Constitution has become a central plank of the campaign.
You refer to Modi branding Congress manifesto as Leftist. Is it that Modi has understood the relevance of the Left?
Modi foresees the Left as the primary and ultimate adversary of the right-wing. In immediate terms, he is afraid of the ideological influence of the Left but in the long run, he is apprehensive of the Left because a stronger Left and people's movement would really challenge them.
Modi may say so but do you think that the Congress manifesto is Left enough?
There is some impact because the Left parties played a role in formulating the Common Minimum Programme during the UPA-I. You had the MGNREGA, RTI, Right to Education, Right to Food and other measures. All such issues were taken up because of the initiative of the Left and everybody knows that. All said and done, what is the Left saying. We are saying fighting the right-wing, fighting dictatorship, fighting fascist forces is one thing but at the same time it is also important to fight for the means of livelihood of the people. When we say this, we mean people should have access to education, health care, employment, housing and food. It is the Constitution which talks about the right to live with dignity and how we can ensure that. Here, the Left shows more commitment and shows its power to fight. The Left position is well known and it impacts every party.
Does the secular democratic bloc understand the Left’s relevance which you are talking about? Are they supportive?
Congress will have to do serious introspection, whatever may be the results. Congress was not accommodating to not only the Left but also to other secular parties. So there are problems in some states on seat sharing.
Modi’s campaign rhetoric had seen a dramatic change in phase-2. How do you see the election progressing, against the backdrop of Modi’s latest pitch?
He is desperate because people are not ready to take whatever he says. That is why he is saying what he is saying. He was talking about 400+, 370, ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ and all. What happened to that? People have their own experience of suffering. Policies pursued by the Modi government have been proved to be disasters. Now, Modi feels jittery. Not only him, other BJP leaders have also shown desperation and that is why they are making speeches to pit one community against another. He is making communal speeches. A Prime Minister should give his vision of India in a dignified way but Modi stoops to such a low level we never saw. He should be giving his vision about governance, how he is going to solve price rise and unemployment . He is not discussing these things but raking up something to distract the whole campaign. He is always resorting to rhetoric and theatrics.
Are you saying Modi’s theatrics and rhetoric is due to desperation? So what is your expectation for the Opposition bloc?
People will vote for a change of government. That is what we all are hoping for. We are hoping that a new government which can defend, which can stand by the Constitution and which will save the democratic institutions in place after the elections. I am sure the Left will continue to play its ideological political role in shaping the policies.