India's CPI(M) party to review its ideological approach

New Delhi, Nov 10 (PTI) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership would have a relook at its ideological approach following the electoral debacle in its strongholds, while taking note of the "flux" in the country's political scene amidst "growing people's unrest" on price rise, corruption and unemployment. In an exercise being undertaken to contemporise its ideology after nearly two decades, CPI(M)'s Central Committee would discuss a draft ideological document at a three-day meeting starting here on Friday. Earlier, such a document was adopted after the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991. After approval by the Central Committee, the draft would be circulated for debate at all levels of the party and placed before 20th Party Congress in April next year for adoption. CPI(M), the main communist party in India for some years now, lost much of its clout after the party's debacle in the legislative assembly elections in the the southern state of Kerala and the eastern state of West Bengal earlier this year resulting in the replacement of the left front governments in the two states. Prior to that in the 2009 Parliament elections too the party had lost quite a few seats. "We are reviewing our ideological approach so as to keep pace with the changing times. In the past 20 years, the world has changed a lot. We have gone through globalisation and liberalisation," senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury had said earlier. The party would continue to mobilise non-Congress secular parties, along with the Left, to channelise the unrest to launch protests against the "neo-liberal" government policies, party sources said. However, the political approach also recognises that the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance needs to negotiate with other parties to get their support on an issue-to- issue basis. A case in point was the Samajwadi Party's support to UPA-I when the Left withdrew it over the Indo-US nuclear deal. The party would also continue to emphasise on fighting communal politics and defend secularism, the sources said. When the CPI(M) and the Left parties are under attack and are sought to be isolated, it was necessary that efforts were continued to draw these parties for a joint stand on issues, both inside and outside Parliament, they said. The CPI(M), which has shown solidarity with 'Occupy Wall Street' movement and has been carrying out protests with Left and other parties, has termed the unrest as "a manifestation of the growing anger of the people at the predatory role of big banks and finance capital." "The people have seen how the corporates and banks have been bailed out while the ordinary people are made to bear the burdens of the crisis" in domestic and the international arena, party sources said, terming the crisis as "rapacious exploitation by big capital and finance". The CPI(M) would also stress on its independent role to expand its base and influence by widening and intensifying people's movements, taking up all issues relating to social oppression by mobilising the downtrodden sections of all castes to "fight class exploitation", the sources pointed out. PTI