Date:03/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/03/stories/2008030374611700.htm

Front Page

Ready for early polls: Bardhan

Staff Reporter

Calls for political talks to bring Maoists into mainstream

Says budget has few positive aspects
Wants better coordination with CPI(M)

Thrissur: Communist Party of India general secretary A.B. Bardhan said on Sunday that the Left was prepared to face early parliamentary elections.

“The Left is not keen on having early elections. But if the Congress wants to advance the polls, we have no problem,” he said at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Thrissur Press Club.

“The Left may forge State-specific alliances with forces that support secularism, democracy and pro-people economic policies and fight imperialism. A third alternative being discussed by the Left and secular parties should be viewed in a long-term perspective. It may not happen in 2008 or 2010. But it may in 2012. The Left sees the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party as bourgeois parties. We want to offer an alternative to what they preach and practise. Bourgeois monopoly of power should end.”

Replying to a question, the CPI leader called for political discussions to bring Maoists to the mainstream.

“Mao Tse-tung was a great follower of Marxism-Leninism. He applied Marxism-Leninism in the Chinese context. We admire him as a thinker and idealogue. Maoism should not be treated as a law-and-order problem in India. The movement started in Bihar and has now spread to about six States. Maoists should not be held at gunpoint. As Communists, we call for political means to bring them to the mainstream.”

Mr. Bardhan, who criticised the budget at the inaugural meeting of the CPI State conference on Saturday, said it had a few positive aspects, especially the farm loan waiver. “Better late than never. The government should ensure follow-up measures, including lower interest on loans and easy availability of bank credit.”

He dismissed allegations of corruption against CPI Ministers in the Left Democratic Front government.

“These allegations will not stand the test of judicial or public scrutiny. Such charges are not new,” he said. He called for better coordination and discussion between the CPI and the CPI(M) in governing the State. “The CPI has criticised unilateral decisions taken by the Left,” he said.

Asked to comment on the CPI(M) having continually spurned CPI’s overtures for merger, Mr. Bardhan said the current situation may continue for a while.