CPI(M) aiming to recover WB base, unite Left forces against TMC, BJP: Karat

The CPI(M) is aiming to recover its base in West Bengal and will try to bring together "Left and democratic forces" against both the TMC and the BJP, party leader Prakash Karat has said.

He added that no discussions had been held on whether the Left Front and the Congress would contest the assembly polls, due in 2026, in an alliance.

In an interview with PTI, the CPI(M) interim coordinator stressed that the party losing ground in West Bengal was a major reason behind its declining electoral strength.

The CPI(M) is focusing on working among the rural poor to regain its traditional support base, Karat said.

 

Asked about the party's standing in West Bengal, which the CPI(M)-led Left Front governed for 34 years between 1977 and 2011 before losing to the TMC, the veteran leader highlighted the recent mobilisations of youngsters, including during the protests against the RG Kar rape and murder incident.

"I am not talking only about our party but all Left and progressive forces (that) came out in large numbers, mobilising the youth also in a big way," Karat told PTI.

"So, we are trying to regain our influence among sections whose support we had lost. We have now realised that we must work very hard among the rural poor. That was our main base. So, we have made those plans. Some progress is there," he said.

Karat claimed the CPI(M) had organisationally regrouped and reoriented even though it had not converted it to electoral success yet.

Asked if the Left Front-Congress alliance would continue in the assembly polls, he said, "Last time, we had some understanding with the Congress. I don't know whether that will materialise this time. It may also. We have not entered that stage of having any discussions on that yet."  "But we will be making a serious effort in the assembly election against the TMC and the BJP. We are going to oppose both. And we hope to rally all other Left and democratic forces as an alternative," he said.

The CPI(M) and the Congress, as well as the TMC, are constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) of opposition parties that came together ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to counter the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress had formed an alliance in West Bengal for the 2016 and the 2021 assembly polls, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Asked about Kerala, which also goes to the polls in 2026, Karat said the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government winning a second consecutive term was unprecedented and the focus now was on long-term development goals.

Noting that the LDF was in its second term, Karat highlighted that that itself set a new precedent, pointing to Kerala's history of alternative governments.

That pattern was broken for the first time in 2021, he said.

"This itself opened up new possibilities and also new challenges. Because everybody is used to this pattern of being in the seat of power for five years and then in the opposition -- whether it's the Congress or us. We are entering the ninth year of the Pinarayi Vijayan government, we (have) realised that let us have a more long-term perspective. That is why we have been talking about a new Kerala, a Nava Kerala, which will be as per international standards of a medium-developed country," Karat said.

"We are hoping that this will pay off, that people will understand that this government has seriously engaged in a path of development which is suitable for Kerala and, on that basis, give us another vote of confidence," he added.    'Centre 'insensitive' towards southern states' apprehensions over three-language formula' 

Amid a raging debate around the National Education Policy's three-language formula, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat said the Centre had been insensitive towards the southern states' apprehensions and suggested all languages be given equal importance.

 

Karat noted that if all languages were treated equally instead of any one being imposed, one of them might automatically evolve as the "lingua franca".

 

A debate over allegations of Hindi imposition by the southern states has been further fuelled by the National Education Policy's (NEP) three-language formula that recommends students learn at least two native Indian languages.

 

This formula has been opposed by the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government, leading to a war of words between the state and Centre.

 

Tamil Nadu has historically opposed the three-language formula and remains the only state to never implement it.

 

Asked about the issue, Karat said in an interview with PTI that there was background to Tamil Nadu's apprehensions.

 

"In Tamil Nadu, the current fears stem from the insistence on having a three-language formula. But I think the current government has been totally insensitive to the fears and apprehensions of the people of Tamil Nadu," he said.

 

"That is, in some way or the other, Hindi (is) sought to be promoted. I think that has created these apprehensions," he said.

 

The larger question is that of the NEP. Education, being on the concurrent list, gives states equal right to decide policies, he added.

 

"We also have strong reservations about some aspects of this policy. Even our Kerala government, the LDF (Left Democratic Front) government has reservations. It is a broader question, not only about the imposition of Hindi. Education is a concurrent (list) subject and the bulk of education is run under the state (governments). But increasingly there is encroachment within that by the Centre," Karat told PTI.

 

"So, that's also one of the reasons in Tamil Nadu, the fears that there would be imposition, not only of Hindi, but imposition of various other models of values in education through the National Education Policy," the veteran CPI(M) leader added.

 

Karat suggested all languages be given equal importance to allow one of them to organically develop into the "lingua franca" -- a shared language of communication used between people whose main languages are different.

 

"We are a multilingual society. Even the Constitution recognises 22 languages. These are considered to be the national (official) languages. We consider all the languages have equal status," he said.

 

"So, in states with languages like Bengali or Telugu or Tamil or Punjabi, all these languages are flourishing languages and they are spoken by people in (these) states. Some of these states are bigger than many European countries. So, we have to recognise this diversity and recognise that language has its own course of development," Karat said.

 

No language can be imposed on others and it should be left to evolve on its own, he added.

 

"You cannot artificially say this language is going to be the official language and everybody has to accept it or study it or use it. Languages grow on their own through social interaction. You will find some languages get accepted by people who speak a different language. Just like English is now internationally found useful to learn and use. So, if Hindi acquires that sort of popularity, you will find people accepting it. But it is not (at) that stage now," Karat said.

 

"So, you should let all the languages develop, give them equal recognition and respect. And eventually one of the languages in India will acquire, I think, the status of 'lingua franca'. More people will acknowledge this language is to be used and spoken," he added.