CPI general secretary D. Raja speaks to The Hindu on the internal dynamics in the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, and the Left parties’ position within the alliance.
Excerpts:
What is the status of seat sharing talks among the constituents of the INDIA bloc?\
INDIA has had four meetings so far and one meeting of the coordination committee. In the coordination meeting, it was agreed that we must organise public meetings and rallies. The first rally was planned in Bhopal, in the first week of October. But it was cancelled because of Congress leader Kamal Nath. That sent the wrong message. The seat sharing negotiations have to begin at the State-level and we must conclude it at the earliest. The political situation varies from State to State. For example, in Tamil Nadu, one does not foresee many problems, even though there are speculations that the Congress may ask for more seats than they fought in 2019.
Why is the CPI insisting that senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi must not contest from Wayanad?
This opinion has been expressed. He [Mr. Gandhi] is a tall leader of not only the Congress but also of the INDIA bloc. Therefore, he must fight the BJP directly instead of the CPI in Wayanad. But then again, it is the prerogative of each party to identify the seats they want to contest and select the candidates. We haven’t had a formal conversation with the Congress on this issue.
What do you expect in West Bengal?
We will have to wait and see whether a TMC (Trinamool Congress)-Congress ally[ship], or Congress and Left [works out]. But a seat adjustment between the Left and TMC appears to be impossible in the given situation.
Will the Left parties contest beyond the agreed seat sharing formula between the INDIA allies?
In Telangana and Andhra [Pradesh], we are not going to contest too many seats, but we will identify where our party has a strong base. In Maharashtra, too, we have pockets of influence. If they don’t accommodate Left parties properly, then Left parties can’t keep away from electoral battles. After all, in parliamentary democracy, political parties can’t shy away from electoral contests. For example, in Telangana, the Congress gave us only one seat, which we won. But for the Congress, it brought in larger dividends — we provided both political and organisational support.
Telangana is the only State out of the five that went for Assembly elections recently where the Congress conceded seats for an ally. Are there any lessons there?
Surely, the Congress has to be more accommodative. Now look at Chhattisgarh, in [the] Konta Assembly seat, the CPI candidate lost by 2,000 votes. If we [the Congress and the CPI] were together, we could have defeated the BJP. In a multi-party democracy as we have today, you will have to be accommodative without compromising your party’s own agendas. This the Congress too will have to realise.
There is barely any time left for the 2024 General Election, but the INDIA bloc hasn’t had a single public meeting, and hasn’t finalised a seat sharing formula. Is it too late?
I agree that time is short. We will have to put our heads together to organise everything and mobilise people. But it will happen. Political parties are mature enough to understand the gravity of the situation. I hope in the coming days, things will move fast, [and] informal and formal talks will be held to sort out the issues.
