New Delhi: A merger of Left parties in the future cannot be ruled out, but there are no immediate possibilities as such, said Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.
He also said that in the coming days, as the climate crisis becomes a major political issue, the left will once again be in the spotlight.
In an interview with , the CPI(ML) leader said that differences persist between different left parties, but added that India needs a strong left formation. When asked about the possibility of a merger of left parties, Bhattacharya said: "I don't rule it out, but I don't really see any immediate possibility."
"There was a communist party in India until 1964. Throughout history there have been differences and the differences led to the formation of different parties," he said.
"So maybe in the future yes, because India needs a strong left formation... There are political and ideological differences. There may not be very important differences, but until the differences are resolved, it is difficult to expect unification complete." he said.The Communist Party of India (CPI), founded on December 26, 1925, split in 1964 and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was formed. Discussions about party reunification have resurfaced from time to time. However, no agreement has been reached.
Meanwhile, the CPI(ML) originated from the Naxalbari movement of 1964 and was founded in 1969. The CPI(ML) Liberation was formed after a split in the party in 1974.
Bhattacharya said differences persist between left parties in terms of policies and articulation. "In terms of politics, ours is more people-oriented, more struggle-oriented. If you are more struggle-oriented, if you try to be more consistent on each topic, we try to be as consistent as possible," he said.
He said the areas of agreement are probably more now and that's a good sign because there is a growing area of agreement that they can mostly work together on.
Asked if he would advise left parties, such as the Communist Party of India (Maoist), to join the mainstream, he said: "I think they think that, in their own way, they are a mainstream party. So we don't mind. It is up to us to define what is conventional and what is not, so the parties really learn through their own experience." Bhattacharya gave the example of Nepal and said that there used to be a Maoist party and for years they were not in the type of parliamentary politics.
"But in their own way, as the situation evolved in Nepal, I think they changed course and started doing something else. So I will wait for the Maoists here to evaluate their own experience," he said.
When asked about the situation of other Left parties, which this time have eight MPs in Lok Sabha, compared to 59 MPs in 2004, he said that the history of the Left differs from state to state. "For example, in Bengal, the Left Front was in power for 34 years. And when the Left Front was in power, we were never part of the Left Front. We maintained our independent existence, as an independent left party," he said. .
"I think it started with Singur and Nandigram. That's when things started going downhill and somehow they haven't managed to recover," he said.
Bhattacharya said that probably the stability of the government became more important to the CPI(M) at that time. "I think that's how the struggles became secondary to the stability of the government. For example, if you look at Singur and Nandigram, it was quite obvious to anyone observing the society that farmers were not at all happy with this whole idea of land acquisition," he said.
When asked about the left parties' dependence on the alliance to win elections, he said it is about "interdependence."
"I don't see it as dependence. It's interdependence because I think we have gained as much as our allies," he said. Regarding the decline of the left globally, he said the deeply democratic content of the left has never manifested itself.
"People talk about how the left has been good in terms of economic redistribution, solving poverty, solving unemployment, etc., but what the left has failed is, let's say, democracy, human rights, freedom individual.
"So this has been a criticism of the leftist movement and I'm not saying it is completely misplaced. There is an important reason why the Soviet Union collapsed," he said. Bhattacharya, however, said that in the coming days, to As the climate crisis becomes a major political issue, the left will once again be in the spotlight, as many people, especially students and young people, see climate change not as some kind of disaster that has not happened but as result of capitalism.
"They can very easily relate it to capitalism, the type of inequality and the obscene type of opulence and ostentation... where waste is an innate, waste-oriented type of consumption.
"So, they have a critic. I mean, it may sound Gandhian or Marxist, but they have a much stronger critique of capitalism than we've probably built up all these years... So, I think with all this climate crisis politics, This It will take us in the direction of the left. That will give the left a new base to grow again," he added.
He also said that in the coming days, as the climate crisis becomes a major political issue, the left will once again be in the spotlight.
In an interview with , the CPI(ML) leader said that differences persist between different left parties, but added that India needs a strong left formation. When asked about the possibility of a merger of left parties, Bhattacharya said: "I don't rule it out, but I don't really see any immediate possibility."
"There was a communist party in India until 1964. Throughout history there have been differences and the differences led to the formation of different parties," he said.
"So maybe in the future yes, because India needs a strong left formation... There are political and ideological differences. There may not be very important differences, but until the differences are resolved, it is difficult to expect unification complete." he said.The Communist Party of India (CPI), founded on December 26, 1925, split in 1964 and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was formed. Discussions about party reunification have resurfaced from time to time. However, no agreement has been reached.
Meanwhile, the CPI(ML) originated from the Naxalbari movement of 1964 and was founded in 1969. The CPI(ML) Liberation was formed after a split in the party in 1974.
Bhattacharya said differences persist between left parties in terms of policies and articulation. "In terms of politics, ours is more people-oriented, more struggle-oriented. If you are more struggle-oriented, if you try to be more consistent on each topic, we try to be as consistent as possible," he said.
He said the areas of agreement are probably more now and that's a good sign because there is a growing area of agreement that they can mostly work together on.
Asked if he would advise left parties, such as the Communist Party of India (Maoist), to join the mainstream, he said: "I think they think that, in their own way, they are a mainstream party. So we don't mind. It is up to us to define what is conventional and what is not, so the parties really learn through their own experience." Bhattacharya gave the example of Nepal and said that there used to be a Maoist party and for years they were not in the type of parliamentary politics.
"But in their own way, as the situation evolved in Nepal, I think they changed course and started doing something else. So I will wait for the Maoists here to evaluate their own experience," he said.
When asked about the situation of other Left parties, which this time have eight MPs in Lok Sabha, compared to 59 MPs in 2004, he said that the history of the Left differs from state to state. "For example, in Bengal, the Left Front was in power for 34 years. And when the Left Front was in power, we were never part of the Left Front. We maintained our independent existence, as an independent left party," he said. .
"I think it started with Singur and Nandigram. That's when things started going downhill and somehow they haven't managed to recover," he said.
Bhattacharya said that probably the stability of the government became more important to the CPI(M) at that time. "I think that's how the struggles became secondary to the stability of the government. For example, if you look at Singur and Nandigram, it was quite obvious to anyone observing the society that farmers were not at all happy with this whole idea of land acquisition," he said.
When asked about the left parties' dependence on the alliance to win elections, he said it is about "interdependence."
"I don't see it as dependence. It's interdependence because I think we have gained as much as our allies," he said. Regarding the decline of the left globally, he said the deeply democratic content of the left has never manifested itself.
"People talk about how the left has been good in terms of economic redistribution, solving poverty, solving unemployment, etc., but what the left has failed is, let's say, democracy, human rights, freedom individual.
"So this has been a criticism of the leftist movement and I'm not saying it is completely misplaced. There is an important reason why the Soviet Union collapsed," he said. Bhattacharya, however, said that in the coming days, to As the climate crisis becomes a major political issue, the left will once again be in the spotlight, as many people, especially students and young people, see climate change not as some kind of disaster that has not happened but as result of capitalism.
"They can very easily relate it to capitalism, the type of inequality and the obscene type of opulence and ostentation... where waste is an innate, waste-oriented type of consumption.
"So, they have a critic. I mean, it may sound Gandhian or Marxist, but they have a much stronger critique of capitalism than we've probably built up all these years... So, I think with all this climate crisis politics, This It will take us in the direction of the left. That will give the left a new base to grow again," he added.
