Inaugural Speech of Prakash Karat, Coordinator,
Polit Bureau of Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the Inaugural Session of 24th Congress of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
President of this Session, Comrade Manik Sarkar
Chairman of the Reception Committee, Comrade K Balakrishnan
Comrade D Raja, General Secretary of CPI
Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of CPI(ML) Liberation
Comrade Manoj Bhattacharya, General Secretary, RSP
Comrade G Devarajan, General Secretary, AIFB
Delegates, Distinguished Guests and Friends,
Vanakkam.
I convey my warm greetings to all those who have gathered here at the inaugural session of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The Party Congress is the most important and supreme forum of a Communist Party. It is, therefore, appropriate that we are holding this Congress in Madurai, a city redolent with the ethos of ancient Tamil literature and culture, and which harmoniously combines the history of over eight decades of the working class and Communist movement.
On this occasion, we remember the outstanding leaders of the Communist movement – P. Ramamoorthi, K. T. K. Thangamani, N. Sankariah and K. P. Janaki Ammal. All of them made distinctive contributions to the development of the Communist Party in Madurai and Tamilnadu.
Madurai has produced many Communist parliamentarians and legislators. To the Lok Sabha, it has elected Communist MPs six times – K.T.K. Thangamani (1957), P. Ramamoorthi (1967), P. Mohan (1999 and 2004) and the current incumbent Su Venkatesan (2019 and 2024). Since the formation of the Communist unit in Madurai in 1940, generations of Communists have worked among the workers, peasants and agricultural workers to build the Party and the movement. We remember the contributions of all these Communist men and women. I salute the memory of our martyr Comrade Leelavathi, a municipal Councillor of the Party in the city, who was killed by local criminal elements in 1997 for defending the people’s interests.
This Party Congress is being held at a poignant moment for us. The General Secretary of the Party, Comrade Sitaram Yechury, under whose leadership the preparations for the Party Congress began is no more with us. Faced with this unexpected situation, the Polit Bureau and the Central Committee has worked collectively and unitedly to fulfill all the work for the holding of the 24th Congress. We shall, forever, cherish Comrade Sitaram’s distinctive contributions to the theory and practice of Marxism.
Comrades and Friends,
The main job of the Party Congress is to formulate a political-tactical line, which will set the direction for the Party’s political work. For this, it is necessary to have an accurate grasp of the essence of the political situation today, the class nature of the government and the ruling party and the balance of class forces that exists. This exercise at times can be a complex one. But, at the present moment, it is relatively simple.
Just ask three questions:
(i) Who claims to be the friend of Donald Trump?
(ii) Who is the close friend of Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani?
(iii) Who owes total loyalty to the RSS?
The answer to all these three questions is the same – Narendra Modi and the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government represent the Hindutva-corporate nexus that is closely allied to US imperialism. It is the BJP-RSS and the Hindutva-corporate nexus underpinning it that needs to be fought and defeated. From coming to such an easy conclusion, a more complex question arises of how to fight the BJP-RSS combine effectively, so as to isolate them and reverse the rightward shift. As Marxists, we know that the political domination that is exercised today by the Hindutva forces is not through electoral means alone. This is a dominance acquired through the influence that the Hindutva forces exercise in the ideological, cultural and social spheres. This is a dominance enforced through authoritarian attacks on democracy and the Constitution.
The political-tactical line that we adopt in this Congress should take into account the waging of a multi-faceted struggle against the BJP-RSS and the Hindutva forces. The Party and the Left have been conducting many struggles in defence of the people’s livelihood and against the onslaughts of the neo-liberal policies. But the masses, who have been mobilized in these struggles, will be politicized only if there is a vigorous campaign amongst them against the reactionary and divisive Hindutva communalism. What is called for is the integration of the struggle against Hindutva communalism and the struggle against neo-liberal policies. At this juncture, when we strive for the broadest mobilization of all secular forces against the BJP, it must be borne in mind that it is the Left alone which is the consistent force, which can firmly and uncompromisingly fight all manifestations of Hindutva and majoritarian communalism precisely because of our uncompromising stand on neo-liberal policies.
The Modi government, in its third term, is going ahead with the RSS-driven Hindutva agenda, aggressive neo-liberal policies and reinforcing authoritarianism. In this process, it is displaying neo-fascist characteristics. Implementing the fascistic agenda of the RSS entails the constant targeting of the Muslim minority. They are marked for persecution through communal violence perpetrated by the Hindutva outfits, aided and abetted by the State machinery in the BJP-ruled states. The state of perennial violence and intimidation directed against the Muslim community is part of the drive to create a permanent communal divide and to effect a `pan-Hindutva’ consolidation.
The Modi government has become a byword for crony capitalism. It seeks to privatise new sectors and provide new areas for profit maximization for the big monopolies. As a result, we are seeing unprecedented inequality with the top one per cent of the population owning 40 per cent of the total wealth of the country. There are high levels of unemployment, particularly among youth; increased exploitation of labour through contractualisation and the fall in the share of wages in net value added in the industrial sector. The condition of farmers and agricultural workers has also worsened due to the worsening agrarian crisis.
The coming period will see an intensification of the class and mass struggles of the working people and we must be prepared to give a political direction to these struggles.
The government is going ahead with the implementation of the four labour codes, which curtail the rights of workers. These anti-working class laws have to be fought. The Central Trade Unions have given a call for a one-day strike on May 20 demanding the withdrawal of these four labour codes. The Left parties and all class and mass organisations will work to make the strike a resounding success.
The fact that the BJP lost its majority in the Lok Sabha and that the NDA does not command a two-thirds majority in either House of Parliament, has not stopped the Modi government’s authoritarian efforts to re-shape the Indian State and Constitution. The Constitutional Amendment Bill to bring about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly is a direct assault on federalism and states’ rights; the steps to curtail Parliament, weaken the higher judiciary and erode the independent status of the Election Commission are still ongoing.
Draconian laws like the UAPA and PMLA are used against opposition leaders. For the first time in independent India, two elected Chief Ministers were put in jail on so-called corruption charges. The authoritarian-centralisation drive is trampling upon the federal principle and the rights of the states. There is blatant discrimination in the allocation of funds to the non-BJP state governments.
The BJP-RSS combine manipulates sub-caste identities to maintain the caste system as the basic framework of social relations in India. The manuvadi values are being insidiously infiltrated into the social and cultural spheres. The fight against the manuvadi-patriarchal system, which attacks the rights of women, dalits and adivasis are an integral part of the struggle against the Hindutva forces.
The Party Congress will be addressing the prime issue of how to increase the independent strength of the CPI(M). Taken the country as a whole, there has to be a planned effort to launch local struggles on class and mass issues, build the Party at grass-roots and streamline the functioning of the Party organization.
The LDF government in Kerala has been in the forefront in opposing the anti-people policies of the Central government. Because the LDF government has sought to implement alternative policies, it is facing hostility and discrimination by the Union government. The ongoing struggle in defence of federalism and states’ rights by the LDF and the people of Kerala is an important part of the all-India fight in defence of federalism and against authoritarianism.
Comrades and Friends,
The Trump Presidency signals a new chapter in the saga of US imperialism. Here is a more naked form of imperialist aggrandisement. Territorial annexation and squeezing the resources of even close allies is the norm. Trump is supporting Netanyahu’s plan to obliterate the Palestinians from Gaza. Trump is taking aggressive steps against many countries of the Global South. Despite all these, Prime Minister Modi remains supine and proclaims his fealty to Trump.
The repercussions for our country are going to be severe. The Modi government is already surrendering India’s vital interests on tariffs, on purchase of energy supplies and military equipment. A new front is opening up against the Modi regime and its close embrace of America. The CPI(M) and the Left will be in the forefront against any compromising of India’s sovereign interests. We must go forth and rouse the people against imperialist depredations and the servile attitude of the BJP rulers.
US imperialism, under Trump, will launch new attacks through economic and trade wars, political and military interventions on countries around the world. This is the time for the CPI(M) and the Left to actively develop anti-imperialist struggles and expose the pro-imperialist policies of the Modi government.
From the platform of this Congress, we express our full support and total solidarity with the Palestinian people who are facing a genocide in Gaza for the past 17 months perpetrated by the brutal Zionist regime of Israel. We condemn the shameful betrayal of the Palestinian cause by the Modi government and its blind support to Israel.
We also greet the heroic people of Cuba and Cuban government, who have been valiantly opposing the inhuman economic blockade imposed by US imperialism for more than six decades. We will always stand with socialist Cuba.
Comrades and Friends,
This is the time to strengthen Left unity and expand Left political intervention. The Left is the only consistent force against neo-liberal capitalism and who firmly defend the interests of the working people. It is the Left, which has the ideological wherewithal and convictions to fight and counter Hindutva neo-fascism. It is only the Left, which can lead the fight against imperialist designs on our country.
The CPI(M) will work with all Left forces to go forward towards the building of a Left and democratic alternative.
The CPI(M) will renew its commitment to join hands with all secular and democratic forces to forge the broadest unity, so that the struggle against the BJP-RSS can be successfully conducted.
From Madurai, let this call go out loud and clear: All Left, democratic and secular forces should unite to push back the dark forces of reaction! Let us work together to build a `New India’ – on secular, democratic and progressive lines. Towards people’s democracy and socialism.