Opinion My resignation

The political resolution adopted in the 20th Party Congress held in April 2012 had clearly laid down the following political line: 2.137 The CPM has to politically fight the Congress and the BJP… Defeating the Congress and the UPA government is imperative given the crushing burden of price rise,unemployment,suffering of the farmers and workers… Isolating the BJP and countering its communal and rightwing agenda is necessary and important… 2.138 As against the Congress and the BJP,the CPM puts forth the Left and democratic alternative. Only a Left and democratic platform can be the alternative to bourgeois-landlord rule. This alternative needs to be built up through a process of movements and struggles…

The politburo’s decision to extend support to the Congress’ nominee for the 2012 presidential elections is a clear violation of the agreed line of politically fighting both the Congress and the BJP. The disruption of Left unity,following the politburo’s decision,also goes counter to the stated objective of strengthening Left unity and the alliance of Left and democratic forces. What was the pressing need to extend support to a Congress candidate even at the cost of breaking Left unity?

The terse statement issued by the politburo justifying the decision states that “in the present situation” Mukherjee is the candidate who has the “widest acceptance”. This is a peculiar argument because the present acceptance of Mukherjee’s candidature cutting across party lines,from the ruling Congress and DMK,which are neck deep in corruption and venality,to the communal-chauvinistic Shiv Sena,has something very sinister about it. The “widest acceptance” of a candidate among such anti-people forces should be strong enough reason for the CPM and the Left parties not to support that candidate.

Mukherjee has been a senior cabinet minister in the present and erstwhile UPA governments (2004-2012). In his earlier stints Mukherjee was instrumental in cementing the Indo-US strategic alliance. In his current tenure as finance minister,he has presided over the longest spell of double-digit food inflation in the post-Independence period… He has also been one of the worst performing finance ministers India has ever had…The argument presented in the press conference addressed by the General Secretary on June 21,justifying support for Mukherjee,was wholly misleading. It was said that the CPM has always supported Congress nominees as presidential candidates since 1991,despite being opposed to its economic policies. What was not mentioned was that never before has a sitting finance minister of a Congress government (or any Union minister for that matter) been nominated as a presidential candidate since 1991…

What does the CPM gain by supporting a Congress presidential nominee in this backdrop? In the absence of any explicit and coherent explanation so far,one can only make two guesses. If the consideration was that the strength of the CPM and the Left is numerically too weak to field its own candidate,then the natural choice should have been to abstain from the polls… While the electoral outcome would have remained unchanged,the Left as a whole could have sent a clear message: that the Left is unitedly opposed to both the Congress- and BJP-backed candidates in the present political backdrop.

The other argument… is that the CPM and the Left is going to gain by supporting the Congress nominee because the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo is opposed to the former and this will help to “drive a wedge” between the Congress and the TMC in West Bengal to the Left’s advantage… Such arguments,besides taking the political consciousness of the ordinary people of Bengal entirely for granted,are also reflective of naiveté and lack of common sense. Repeated instances have shown that the TMC has been able to defeat the Left Front in most places even without Congress support. Moreover,any effort to stitch up a formal or informal electoral alliance with the Congress against the TMC in West Bengal today will be a tactical disaster for the Left Front,because that will turn large sections of traditional voters away from the Left.

I protest against the decision by the politburo to support the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee… I consider this to be a grave error which will harm the Party and disturb Left unity. The Party leadership has committed one mistake after another since 2007… The same leadership is committing yet another costly mistake,refusing to learn anything from the past… Therefore,with great pain and agony,I tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Party.

The writer,convenor of CPM’s research cell in Delhi,resigned from primary membership of the party on June 22. Excerpts from his letter of resignation