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Deviating from its usual practice, the Communist Party of India-Marxist has issued a note to its state units on the draft political resolution for the upcoming party congress.
The note says the party does not consider the Narendra Modi government or the Indian State as "neo-fascist", even as there are manifestations of "neo-fascist characteristics"
The note sent to the state units of the Communist Party of India-Marxist also stresses that the position is different from that of other Left parties, such as the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist Liberation.
The CPI has characterised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre as a fascist government, while the CPI-ML has said an "Indian fascism" has been put in place.
The note says the political resolution talks about the danger of the Hindutva-corporate authoritarianism going towards neo-fascism, if the BJP-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is not fought back and halted, but stresses that the party is not calling the Modi government "neo-fascist".
The draft political resolution of the CPI-M, which will be discussed at the party congress in Tamil Nadu's Madurai in April, was adopted at a meeting of the party's Central Committee in Kolkata from January 17 to January 19.
The draft resolution says there has been a growing conflict between the forces of the Hindutva-corporate regime, represented by the Modi government, and secular-democratic forces that are opposed to it.
It says "the push to impose a reactionary Hindutva agenda and the authoritarian drive to suppress the Opposition and democracy display neo-fascist characteristics".
In the note, the CPI-M has clarified that talking about the political setup showing "neo-fascist characteristics" does not mean that the party is calling the Modi government fascist or neo-fascist.
"We are not saying that the Modi government is a fascist or neo-fascist government. Nor are we characterising the Indian State as a neo-fascist State," the note has said.
"What we are pinpointing is that after 10 years of continuous rule by the BJP, which is the political wing of the RSS, there has been a consolidation of political power in the hands of the BJP-RSS and this is resulting in the manifestation of 'neo-fascist characteristics'," the Left party has said.
"The word 'characteristics' means features or trends, but they have not developed into a neo-fascist government and political setup. So the political resolution is talking about the danger of the Hindutva-corporate authoritarianism going towards neo-fascism, if the BJP-RSS is not fought back and halted," the note has said.
The CPI-M has said the term "neo-fascism" is being used to distinguish it from the classical fascism, which rose in the inter-war years in Europe, like in Italy under Benito Mussolini and in Germany under Adolf Hitler.
"Neo-fascism is a product of the crisis of neo-liberalism and is a global phenomenon," the party said.
It said the resulting discontent due to the neo-liberal crisis is being exploited by the far-right and neo-fascist forces, using populist rhetoric.
Unlike the classical fascism, neo-fascist parties utilise elections to advance their political project and even if they come to power, do not dispense with the electoral system, the CPI(M) added.
In its political resolution adopted at the 23rd party congress, when Sitaram Yechury was the general secretary, the CPI-M had said the BJP-led Centre was "aggressively pursuing the Hindutva communal agenda of the fascistic RSS".
In the 22nd congress, the party had said authoritarian and Hindutva communal attacks exhibit "emerging fascistic trends".
The note says that this is the first time that the party has used the term "neo-fascist" in its political resolution while commenting on the national situation.