CPI to review party programme

By C. Gouridasan Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 24. Close on the heels of the CPI(M) coming out with the draft of a revised party programme, the CPI too has announced its decision to mount a similar exercise.

The CPI general secretary, Mr. A.B. Bardhan, told a "Meet-the- Press" programme organised by the Press Club here today that the party national council had decided to hold a plenum in New Delhi by the end of August to discuss and approve the changes proposed in the party programme. The CPI(M), it may be recalled, has decided to hold a plenum in October.

Mr. Bardhan described the revisions sought to be effected in the CPI(M) programme as a move in the "positive direction" and that what he could gather from newspapers indicated that some of the changes have been mooted taking into account the changes in the socio-political situation in the country and at the global level.

Some of these issues had already figured in the discussions of the CPI's Hyderabad Congress and the party had in principle accepted concepts such as a multi-party system, multi-sectoral economy and limited inflow of foreign capital. The plenum was being held to discuss these issues threadbare and arrive at concrete positions, he explained.

Replying to questions, the CPI general secretary said though the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was a communal party going by its name, it could not be branded as such in the present context as it was putting up a strong fight against Muslim fundamentalist forces. Organisations such as Al Umma were fundamentalist in character and, when trying to assess the Muslim League, it should be noted that the League was fighting against such fundamentalist outfits, he said.

Mr. Bardhan also sought to distinguish between communalism of the majority and minority variety and said that in the present context it would be wrong to measure them with the same yardstick. Any attempt by the majority, be it communal or ethnic, to put down the minority was harmful. Similarly, the right of the minorities to defend their identities must be respected, he said.

Asked to comment on his party's constant complaint that the CPI(M) in Kerala was behaving like a big brother, Mr. Bardhan said though he did not wish to go into adjectives it was true that such a situation existed. There were differences of opinion between the two parties on various issues. Some of these had been resolved through discussions and the others were under discussion, he said.

Mr. Bardhan termed the prospects of the proposed Third Front quite bright and said unlike its earlier version, the Third Front now proposed to be forged under the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr. Jyoti Basu, would be founded on common movements and struggles. This, he was confident, would make it last longer than the last one. The last Third Front was constituted in the context of the 12th Lok Sabha when fall of the BJP Government was imminent and power was going abegging, he pointed out.

On the prospects of the Third Front having tie-up with the Congress(I), he said the name of the proposed Front itself suggested that it was meant as an alternative to the Congress(I) as well. He called upon the Congress(I) to come clean on its economic policies and its stand on the issue of communalism. Although the Congress(I) president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, often criticised the BJP on both the counts, her partymen always spoke a different language, he said.

The Congress(I), he alleged, was hobnobbing with the BJP in West Bengal after its failure to forge the "Mahajot". That the CWC(I) member, Mr. K. Karunakaran, came up with the proposal for a tie- up with the BJP against the LDF in Kerala precisely at this time was quite significant. There was nothing surprising about his retraction because Congressmen always did so when caught red- handed, Mr. Bardhan added.

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