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Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) politburo member and the leader of the Left parties in Rajya Sabha, tells Aditi Phadnis and Archis Mohan that the Narendra Modi government is trying to break Opposition unity in the Upper House by using extra-parliamentary weapons. Edited excerpts:
After the magnificent opposition victory in the Rajya Sabha when you forced the government to amendments to the President's Address, there appears to have been a setback. The Opposition has not really been able to consolidate itself...
The 235th session of the Rajya Sabha is to meet later this month. Never in recent memory has the Budget been passed in two different session of Parliament. This government has achieved that astonishing feat because it prorogued Parliament, so that it could revisit the land acquisition legislation.
On the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulations (MMDR) Bill and the coal Bill, it tried to break the Opposition by using extra-parliamentary weapons. Regional parties are vulnerable to this. There's a full-blown ponzi scam unfolding in Odisha. The former Tamil Nadu chief minister is being investigated in a graft case. In Uttar Pradesh, many tricks can be used with disproportionate assets cases. Our attempt is to keep the Opposition unity intact. If we succeed, the government will find it difficult to get the Land Acquisition Bill through the Rajya Sabha. If they succeed, like the MMDR and coal Bill, the Land Acquisition Bill, too, will be cleared.
But there is disproportionate pressure by the Narendra Modi government to get the land Bill cleared. I suspect it has something to do with promises made to business houses during the election campaign.
The changes proposed by the government are very dangerous for the peasantry. They will have far-reaching implications.
Which is why Left parties are determined to oppose the changes. So is the Congress...
What about the Trinamool Congress?
Judging by their public statements, they should oppose it as well. In fact, judging by public statements, all those who marched to Rashtrapati Bhavan to petition the President of India against the changes should oppose the changed legislation. We are operating on the assumption that they continue to remain committed to that position.
What is the legislation pending in the Rajya Sabha relating to economic reform that you feel could meet a sticky end?
No big-ticket reform legislation is pending in the upper house. Changes in the insurance law have been cleared. Coal and MMDR are also through. The Lok Sabha is there for the Budget. There is the issue of changes in banking laws, though - they might try that. That will be disastrous for the country. The only economic sustenance the government has at the moment is the nationalised banks. The prime minister claims thousands of crores of rupees have been deposited as part of the Jan Dhan scheme. But it is also true that 70-80 per cent of the accounts have no money. If each person who has an account makes use of the provision of Rs 5,000-overdraft then Rs 60,000 crore can suddenly be withdrawn, causing a financial implosion. So, any tinkering with India's banking system, disinvestment and so on is fraught with a lot of uncertainty encompassing the whole economy.
How do you see the current agricultural crisis?
Agriculture is crucially important for India and agrarian distress is very severe. During the last kharif season, we saw acreage under cultivation actually shrink for the first time in several decades. Food production is on the decline, although the government is yet to make the data public. And now, the standing crop has been ruined by unseasonal rain. This has very serious consequences for India's food security.
Before the Modi government came to power, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar admitted in the Rajya Sabha that though the government had increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the last three years of the United Progressive Alliance rule substantially, it was much less than the cost of inputs as estimated by the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices. The farmer had not profited at all - hence farm distress and the increase in suicides by farmers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election manifesto says cost of production and 50 per cent over that will be the MSP. That doesn't seem to be happening.
But despite all this, the other Opposition parties are not coming to you. They seem to be backing the BJP...
That question should be posed to them. All major regional parties are agrarian-based states, so this situation should worry them. We are trying to bring them together...
Who's we?
The CPI (M). We are hoping that the 14 parties that marched to the President against the land acquisition law will be on board and will band together in Parliament as well.
Your party congress is due next week. What are the issues on the agenda?
The 21st party congress is in Vishakhapatnam from April 14 to 19. The party congress will take up documents, two of which are identified. One is the draft political resolution and other is the draft report on the review of political-tactical line. It will discuss the tactical line that the CPI(M) will employ in the coming few years.
These are basically aimed at strengthening the CPI (M), strengthening Left unity and strengthening the unity of secular forces on specific issues.
The challenge is to protect the unity and integrity of the country that is under threat because of the sharpening communal polarisation because of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP. Unless the CPI (M) increases its independent strength and power of intervention, the required resolve to the dual onslaught mounted by the Modi government on the economic policy front and the sharpening communal divide will be difficult to meet. The party congress will take crucial positions on these matters.
Given that the individuals are less important in the CPI(M) than the party, what are the changes in the offing?
According to our constitution, the party general secretary or any person holding an office of the party cannot continue for more than three terms - our constitution was amended to this effect.
The incumbent general secretary completes three terms. So, the change will have to take place, constitutionally.
The new leadership in terms of the new politburo and general secretary will be elected by the new central committee, which in turn will be elected by the party congress.
