Part I: 'We don't agree with Congress' economic policies'

Even though he may not be as familiar as the other Marxists in the image above -- Messrs Harkishen Singh Surjeet, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist; Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, West Bengal's reformist chief minister; and Jyoti Basu, arguably the bestknown Marxist in the country -- CPI-M Politburo member Prakash Karat is perhaps the most influential figure in his party.

The CPI-M's likely next general secretary is an uncompromising ideologue who argued against Basu becoming prime minister in 1997 and against the party joining the Manmohan Singh government last month.

In a rare interview, Karat tells Contributing Editor Sheela Bhatt how the Communists plan to play sentinel during the Manmohan Singh government's tenure.

This interview first appeared in India Abroad, the newspaper owned by rediff.com 

Is the Congress party secular?

Yes, it is. It is secular but time and again it has shown a compromising attitude to communalism.

But we make a distinction between the Congress party and the BJP. The Congress party is secular and has a secular tradition, which has corroded and weakened in recent years. But unless you make a distinction between the BJP and the Congress party you cannot mobilise the maximum number of forces to protect secularism.

What is your premise in fighting the Congress party in West Bengal and what is your premise in supporting it in New Delhi?

Not only in Tripura, West Bengal and Kerala, in Karnataka for instance we are allies of the Janata Dal-Secular while in Maharashtra and Assam we fought the Congress party.

That can be called opportunism.

But what was our election campaign? We said we would support a Congress party government if necessary. We wanted to defeat the BJP. That was our main goal.

We don't hide our politics. We are not opportunists. We don't say one thing before and another thing after the election. See our manifesto and see our publicity material during the entire campaign. We said then that our main goal is to defeat the BJP, remove it from power and to see that there is an alternative government. Even if the alternative government is led by the Congress party, it's better than having the BJP. We are very clear about it.

The people in West Bengal and Kerala understood our politics. They are conscious that the BJP is a bigger threat than the Congress party. We have been fighting the BJP more consistently than the Congress party. They appreciate that fact.

How far will you go in supporting this government?

Our commitment was to see that a secular government was in place. We will watch the government's performance. There will be a Common Minimum Program for this government. If there is any issue on which we feel the government's policy is affecting the people, we will take a position and mobilise people to see that those policies are not pursued. That's why we are supporting it from the outside.

We are not people without responsibility. We don't want power. We are not deciding who should become a minister from the Rashtriya Janata Dal or the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. We are not interested in the spoils of office. We want to be responsible to the people who voted for us.

We shall be like a sentinel. Any mistake in the defense of secularism, any lapse in economic policy that affects the people, any giving in to pressure from America or its imperialism, we shall come out and explain to the people that these are problems.

But we are confident that with the strength we have, such situations will be avoided as far as possible.

As a party which champions the labor class and the rural poor, don't you feel uncomfortable to see a national party like the Congress completely controlled by the dynasty?

We don't go by individuals. We are not interested whether the Congress party is led by Dr Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi. We are interested in knowing what policies it will pursue.

We want a big change from the policies of the Vajpayee government. We want big public investment in agriculture so that farmers who are in distress are provided relief.

How does it matter to me who leads the Congress party? The rural poor have given the biggest support to the Congress party this time. The people have decided on this national issue. The people of India prefer the Congress party over the BJP, which is controlled by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

What is that politics? Is the RSS democratic? Why is the RSS guiding them? The prime minister, deputy prime minister are all called by the RSS chief and told what to do in an election. The people have seen that, and have made a choice. If here one controls, there the RSS family controls the BJP.

Are you worried about the possibility of two power centres within the Congress party?

The BJP had a prime minister and a deputy prime minister from the same party. I don't know why, for real power rested with the RSS. For us Sonia Gandhi is the (Congress) president. Party leaders and parties must influence government policy.

We don't want the party to be separate from the government. Our party won't believe in it. Our chief ministers and leaders report to the party to see that our policies are being implemented. It will be good if the Congress party also follows this.

Did the CPI-M's top brass hold deliberations before issuing statements about the economy, for statements from the Left created havoc in the stock markets soon after the election results?

As far as we are concerned, the Vajpayee government did a ridiculous thing by setting up the ministry of divestment. Nowhere in the world does it exist. Why do you need a ministry for divestment? You have a ministry for investment that I can understand. This is a superfluous ministry.

We never crashed the market. You know and I know that big players manipulate the market. I am honest to my people. We feel we have been given a mandate by the people to stop the indiscriminate privatisation conducted under [former minister] Arun Shourie's ministry.

We say, wind this up. We are very clear. 

Will this government be stable?

How long do you think Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be interested in running the government?

The Congress party has realised that it has to have a coalition. This is their first experiment and a real experiment. They will go forward and try to work within a coalition in the future also. That will ensure stability.

At the back of your mind, are there gray areas that you think can risk the government's stability?

As far as our party is concerned we are into constructive engagement with the Congress party. After their experience, they will be able to run a coalition if they take into consideration the Common Minimum Program and genuinely implement it.

This government will be able to overcome the difficulties. If they implement the CMP, I give five years to this government.

Image: Uday Kuckian