CPI(M) to focus on rebuilding base, specially in WB: Karat

Having received its worst drubbing at the hustings, the CPI(M) will be focusing on rebuilding the party to regain its eroded base, especially in its erstwhile stronghold West Bengal where it was uprooted in the Assembly and Parliament elections, party general secretary Prakash Karat said today.
Setting the tone for the six-day party congress here, Karat said strengthening the party in particular and the Left in general was also vital to take on the challenges posed by the Narendra Modi-government, which he dubbed as a "joint enterprise of the RSS and the BJP" in which the former holds the "majority stake."

"At this juncture, it is absolutely vital to build and expand the independent strength of CPI(M) and the Left. We have to overcome the reverses suffered by CPI(M) and the Left in the recent period, particularly in West Bengal," Karat said in his opening address at the party's 21st congress.
Making a frontal attack on the Modi government, Karat said the people of this country have been witnessing a "right wing offensive" on issues ranging from social and cultural to economic and political since it came to power.
"First, we have the Bharatiya Janata Party in power at the Centre which is but a political extension of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Thus the Modi government is a joint enterprise of the RSS and the BJP, with the parent holding majority stake in this joint venture.

"Secondly, the BJP won the Lok Sabha elections and the Modi government was propelled into this office by twin forces of big bourgeois corporate support and the extension of the RSS-led Hindutva forces," lambasted the senior politburo member.
He said people are disillusioned with the present government and have started coming out to defend their rights which the CPI(M) would support.