The 20th Party Congress of the CPI has elected you as a deputy general secretary who will eventually take over from AB Bardhan. How do you see your appointment?
First, I don't see my position in the way that you do. I have to mainly assist the general secretary in various assignments and areas where he feels more attention is required. My responsibilities would be more on the organisational side. In the present scenario, the work burden of the party has increased, so the post of a deputy has been created to assist Bardhan.
But your party's history shows the deputy general secretaries have always assumed the top post later. So, that makes you the next in the line of succession.
Yes, Comrade Indrajit Gupta and AB Bardhan had assumed the top post after being deputies, but I don't think this is an automatic process. I don't see myself on that post in the forseeable future. Even though Bardhan says he is not in good health, I think he is better than me and is capable of leading the party for some time.
What are your plans for the party?
My priority is to increase its support base, which is now limited to a few pockets. Our concentration would be on the Hindi belt, where we had good support earlier. We want to consolidate our influence in various pockets like Bihar and Jharkhand. Our central secretariat consists of nine members and each one of them has been given responsibilities for some states. We also need to focus on rebuilding the party. All this time, we were sharing power with our comrades in various states and at central level we were occupied with the Left-UPA coordination over various issues (like the Indo-US civil nuclear deal). We need to concentrate on several other issues now.
In the three states where we share power with the CPI(M), we have a problem in expanding our support/voter base. Being the biggest party in power, many people obviously tend to join the CPI(M) when they think of joining the Left movement.
Also, we have limitations in enhancing our electoral strength. We have a fixed seat-sharing arrangement with the CPI(M). We get to contest from only a select number of seats but our party's aspirations have increased and we need to look for newer areas where we can enhance our electoral strength. In the Hindi belt, I think we have better growth prospects than the CPI(M).
Till a few years ago, Bardhan and others were zealously advocating the unification of the two Communist parties. Now it seems you've buried that as a distant dream.
I don't know if it's a distant dream but yes, it is not an immediate prospect. After four decades of separation, we felt that if the two parties are united, it will be better for the communist movement. But the CPI(M) hasn't shown much interest. Their response was not very positive. They feel that they are a purer party. We are also taking a realistic view. The unification would have helped avoid duplication of work in our mass organisations as well.
What about the UNPA? One day you are seen cosying up to them and the next day you criticise and term their grouping as a political stunt.
They want to build a non-Congress and a non-BJP alternative in the country. But what we want is clarity on various economic policies. Most of the UNPA constituents don't say anything against the WTO or the World Bank. They are also confused on foreign policy. This confusion often makes them join hands with even the BJP to come to power.
We don't want them to subscribe to Marxism but they should be supportive of meaningful policies like land reforms, independent foreign policy, etc. We don't want them to be in favour of the agenda pursued by people like P Chidambaram. What we are seeking from them is some clarity on various policies. At present, we have joined hands on the issue of price rise.
The recent party congresses of the two Communist parties gave a strong signal that the Left this time wants to lead the third alternative, maybe even form a government. In that case, who is your prime ministerial candidate? The BJP is projecting LK Advani, the Congress has Manmohan Singh. What about the Left?
We don't need to project any face now. There are a lot of leaders both inside and outside the Left parties who can be prime minister. But our preference would be to choose someone from outside, a non-Left leader, to lead a coalition government. This is because there can be a lot of apprehensions about a communist or a Leftist becoming prime minister in India's prevailing political system.
The CPI(M) Party Congress, in its organisational report, called for an "ideological and political" way to counter allies like the Forward Block and the RSP. How does the CPI see this stand of the big brother?
There is no need for an ideological or a political battle against any ally. On the other hand, being the biggest party, the CPI(M) should be more responsible in dealing with the allies. We have raised questions about the Nandigram episode. The responsibility to convince us lies entirely with the CPI(M).
You are seen in favour of creating Telangana. But the party doesn't seem to be clear on the issue. Your Hyderabad Congress led to little clarity on the issue
On Telangana, I think the people's sentiments should be respected. The States Reorganisation Commission said that a separate state of Telangana could be formed after some years. Now, after 50 years, we still don't see any emotional attachment between the two regions. Various leaders, either of the Congress or the TDP, did not implement the safeguards announced for the region. We have a clear position on Telangana. As some clarity was needed in the declaration/statement we made on Telangana in our Hyderabad Congress, we are now coming out with a revised statement which clears the doubts.
What about Andhra Pradesh, a big base for your party, where your ally, the CPI(M), is seen as getting close to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)? But you are still undecided...
Yes, they are moving close to the TDP. We have also kept our options open but cannot say anything about it now.
