 "Election Commission has proved to be ineffective: Prakash Karat")
Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat refuses to hazard a guess about the poll outcome. In an interview with Mayank Mishra, he, however, expects better performance by non-Congress, non-BJP parties and is confident the "imperative to form a secular government" will bring them together. Edited excerpts:
Now that the elections are over, what, according to you, have been the highs and the lows of the campaign this time?
This Lok Sabha election has been marked by a very communal campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Actually, this campaign has been conducted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadre for the BJP in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Even its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has been raising issues such as throwing out Bangladeshi infiltrators in West Bengal and Assam, which is widely seen to be directed against Bengali speaking Muslims who are citizens of our country. Even prior to the elections, we saw concerted communal campaign in UP, which resulted in a series of communal riots culminating in Muzaffarnagar violence.
How has the Election Commission (EC) carried out the task of conducting elections this time? Almost all parties, including your party, have criticised the panel.
Our experience is that the Election Commission has proved to be ineffective and unable to intervene to ensure a free and fair poll in West Bengal where the most blatant form of rigging has taken place by capturing of booths, driving away voters and attacks on the opposition cadres. This had happened in three successive rounds of elections but the officials posted in the state by the EC have refused to act.
Opinion and exit polls have predicted massive gains for the BJP. Is this the result of a strong anti-incumbency factor working against the Congress?
Opinion polls are being conducted mainly by the corporate media and everyone in the country knows that corporates are fully backing Narendra Modi. So, these polls have no credibility. Even in 2009, opinion polls were proved wrong.
What, then, is the most likely scenario - something like 1996, 1998 or 2004?
I don't think the verdict has to follow any earlier pattern. What we can say at this stage, when the polling process is over, is that there has been a strong trend against the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance. This anti-Congress move of the people cannot be seen to be a wave for Modi or the BJP. The other non-Congress secular parties, including the regional parties, will also to do well.
But for any non-Congress, non-BJP formation to take shape, it will still require support from one of the two large blocs.
That will depend on the results. It is up to the Congress to decide whether they will support a non-Congress secular formation to form a government. Whether do they do that or not, we will have to see after the elections.
Will there be any role for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in such a formation? The AAP is also positioning itself to belong to the non-Congress, non-BJP space.
The AAP is not going to cross five seats. In terms of government formation, the AAP is not going to play any role.
There are many contradictions among parties, which hope to occupy the third space. Parties like the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal cannot work together. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party cannot be part of one formation, also the Left parties and the Trinamool Congress can't work together.
All these matters will be cleared and resolved only after the election results. None of these parties had pre-election alliances. After the elections, the imperative to keep the BJP out and to have a secular government at the Centre will be overriding.
Which means some of these contradictions will be ignored?
I told you this will be the main imperative. Many of these problems will be resolved, I am sure.
Economy watchers predict a doomsday scenario in case of a third front government because of perceived political instability and consequent policy paralysis.
All I have to say is that governments are not formed for the markets. They are formed for the country and the people.
Now that the elections are over, what, according to you, have been the highs and the lows of the campaign this time?
This Lok Sabha election has been marked by a very communal campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Actually, this campaign has been conducted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadre for the BJP in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Even its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has been raising issues such as throwing out Bangladeshi infiltrators in West Bengal and Assam, which is widely seen to be directed against Bengali speaking Muslims who are citizens of our country. Even prior to the elections, we saw concerted communal campaign in UP, which resulted in a series of communal riots culminating in Muzaffarnagar violence.
How has the Election Commission (EC) carried out the task of conducting elections this time? Almost all parties, including your party, have criticised the panel.
Our experience is that the Election Commission has proved to be ineffective and unable to intervene to ensure a free and fair poll in West Bengal where the most blatant form of rigging has taken place by capturing of booths, driving away voters and attacks on the opposition cadres. This had happened in three successive rounds of elections but the officials posted in the state by the EC have refused to act.
Opinion and exit polls have predicted massive gains for the BJP. Is this the result of a strong anti-incumbency factor working against the Congress?
Opinion polls are being conducted mainly by the corporate media and everyone in the country knows that corporates are fully backing Narendra Modi. So, these polls have no credibility. Even in 2009, opinion polls were proved wrong.
What, then, is the most likely scenario - something like 1996, 1998 or 2004?
I don't think the verdict has to follow any earlier pattern. What we can say at this stage, when the polling process is over, is that there has been a strong trend against the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance. This anti-Congress move of the people cannot be seen to be a wave for Modi or the BJP. The other non-Congress secular parties, including the regional parties, will also to do well.
But for any non-Congress, non-BJP formation to take shape, it will still require support from one of the two large blocs.
That will depend on the results. It is up to the Congress to decide whether they will support a non-Congress secular formation to form a government. Whether do they do that or not, we will have to see after the elections.
Will there be any role for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in such a formation? The AAP is also positioning itself to belong to the non-Congress, non-BJP space.
The AAP is not going to cross five seats. In terms of government formation, the AAP is not going to play any role.
There are many contradictions among parties, which hope to occupy the third space. Parties like the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal cannot work together. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party cannot be part of one formation, also the Left parties and the Trinamool Congress can't work together.
All these matters will be cleared and resolved only after the election results. None of these parties had pre-election alliances. After the elections, the imperative to keep the BJP out and to have a secular government at the Centre will be overriding.
Which means some of these contradictions will be ignored?
I told you this will be the main imperative. Many of these problems will be resolved, I am sure.
Economy watchers predict a doomsday scenario in case of a third front government because of perceived political instability and consequent policy paralysis.
All I have to say is that governments are not formed for the markets. They are formed for the country and the people.
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