The War is Waged in The Parliament, Not in Wayanad — CPI’s Opposition to Priyanka Gandhi’s Candidature is Foolish | Ajayakumar Kodoth

Priyanka Gandhi is coming to Wayanad for a political contest, as Rahul Gandhi makes way for her. An appropriate decision, whichever way you look at it. Not that there are no eligible candidates in Kerala. But a strong opposition needs to be mounted by the Congress in the Parliament against the Fascist organization called the BJP. It is imperative that an eligible leader who is now outside the Parliament enters it in order to serve the interests of secular democracy in India in the future. Therefore, the decision taken by the Congress leadership should be seen as one that is favourable towards the creation of such an atmosphere.

The Fascist threat has not been wiped out from the contemporary field of Indian politics. So, the realization that long-term opposition has to be sustained against it should impel the CPI to see wisdom in not opposing her in Wayanad. Instead, if the CPI dithers and waits to observe how the CPM leadership in Kerala reacts to Priyanka Gandhi’s candidature, that will only affect its own forward march. It would be good to remember that if the CPM has managed to retain its status as a national party for the present, that is only because it is riding piggy-back on the Congress. Also good to remember that the CPM is a movement that was hell-bent on opposing the Congress, even if it meant supping with the devil.

Priyanka Gandhi’s arrival in Wayanad is not an emotional issue. As far as the enlightened people of Kerala are concerned, it will impart tremendous energy to South India’s anti-Fascist struggle. The BJP tried its best to scuttle the move in many ways precisely because it realized that fact. If the CPM follows in the same footsteps, it will only be to further its own narrow political interests. It is a party of political imbeciles who condemned Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as “Container Yatra†. In the changed political circumstances, both in India and in Kerala, the CPM is on its last legs. A fitting and inevitable end to a party that took birth in 1964 with the avowed aim of building a Congress-free state!

If, at the end of the Bhatinda congress in 1978, the CPI had not shown the political idiocy of aligning itself with the CPM in order to form the Left Democratic Front as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress, the implosion of the CPM would have begun much earlier. Even on the occasion of the defeat of the Congress, if the CPI had pledged support to a greater democratic front, that would have done substantial good to the anti-Fascist struggle. Politically speaking, the CPI should not attempt to drown and sink along with the CPM in Kerala and India. Rather, it should work with a better sense of discretion, and not oppose Priyanka Gandhi’s candidature in Wayanad. Otherwise, one can be sure it will have to pay a very heavy price.

Family Dynasty: A Word ‘Frozen’ by the CPM

During the time when the CPM nursed a blind hatred towards the Congress, the word it used in order to malign the latter was ‘Family dynasty’! But ever since the second Pinarayi government assumed power in 2021, the CPM has never used this word. Aren’t the reasons obvious to all? What a fall! Hasn’t the CPI seen it at all? Earlier, the CPM used to tease the CPI, calling it the ‘tail’ of the Congress. According to the grapevine, the sycophants of Pinarayi Vijayan have tightened their grip on the CPI leadership. One does not know whether it is true. But members of that clique have no loyalty towards the movement. Their interest lies only in feathering their own nests. May the CPI not fall into such a situation.

Before it decides to oppose Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad, the CPI should remember the circumstances that led to the return of Indira Gandhi in the 1980 elections, following the end of the Janata rule. Mohit Sen, the Marxist ideologue, mentions in his autobiography that Indira Gandhi desired to reestablish an alliance with the CPI at the national level by giving it as many as 100 seats. But the CPI rejected the offer mercilessly at that time. What was the end result of that political blunder? What else but its pathetic state in the present! But yet, it refuses to learn a lesson. The moment it abandoned the Joshi-Dange path and adopted the anti-Congress policy of the CPM, it took the first steps towards a steady decline.

If a correction in the CPI is possible and if it wishes to prevent total annihilation, that should start in Wayanad. What does the CPI gain by losing to Priyanka Gandhi by a greater margin than it did to Rahul Gandhi? As of now, the threat of family dynasty does not lurk in the horizon. If such a situation does arise in the future, we will raise our voices against it at that point of time. And we must! But in the present circumstances, the CPI should be careful not to fall into the trap set by the BJP and the CPM. The main and only enemy that secular, democratic India faces today is communal Fascism. How can that enemy be neutralized without linking hands with the Congress? What did the general elections of 2024 bring to light? An anti-communal front without the Congress, as the CPM of Kerala is endorsing, is like the Ramayana without Rama! Even today, the CPI has the potential to grow into a greater Left party. But this is the last bus. And the CPI cannot afford to miss it!

The Seriousness of the Fascist Threat

The CPI should not ignore the fact that the Fascist threat continues to be a grave one. In such circumstances, the CPI should not sacrifice itself for the sake of extending the CPM’s lease of life (a phenomenon prevailing only in Kerala). First and foremost, it should realize that the political stands taken by the CPM have absolutely no relevance in current-day Indian politics. Second, these are the most propitious times for the CPI to join the anti-Fascist, anti-imperial front led by the Congress, both in Kerala and at the centre. It should not pay heed to the CPM argument that such a front is not viable in Kerala. Believing it would be nothing short of foolishness.

A misunderstanding that the CPI leadership is deliberately creating among its ranks is that the Congress will not accept the earlier configuration. If that were so, why did the Congress give a seat to the CPM – that had notched only the third place in the Rajasthan assembly elections – in the Sikar constituency and take it to victory? The Congress is a party that gave the Chief Ministerial post to the CPI in Kerala two times, even when it was only the second party in Kerala. Besides Achutha Menon, wasn’t PKV also our Chief Minister? The CPI claims that it abandoned that position in order to create the Left Front. Yet the CPM has nothing but scorn for the CPI!

Today, the CPM is in the abyss of total destruction. What the CPI needs to understand is that it is not a party which is destined to suffer the same fate as the CPM. What the CPI needs to do is to effect an ideological change and to overhaul its approach towards the Congress as well as the nationalist movement. The CPI should take the initiative to bring the Joshi-Dange line into practice with greater clarity. And this is the most favourable political atmosphere for bringing about such a change.

Priyanka Gandhi is a Congress leader who has the potential to grow into a force that can confront the BJP, both in the Parliament and outside. Even Sitaram Yechury is likely to agree to this point. Needless to say, joining the BJP and donning the role of an adversary against such a person will be tantamount to committing political suicide.

(Author: Dr Ajayakumar Kodoth, Son of the late K. Madhavan, freedom fighter and veteran Communist leader from Malabar)