CPI's draft political resolution says I.N.D.I.A. parties lack ideological coherence, slams BJP's 'fascist agenda'

New Delhi: What one witnessing in India under the RSS and BJP, which are "organisations with fascist agenda", is "not merely an authoritarian drift" but a “systemic effort to change the very nature” of the Indian State and undermine the Constitution, the CPI said in its Draft Political Resolution for its Party Congress released on Friday.

At the same time, the Left Party also said the I.N.D.I.A. bloc suffers from ideological inconsistency, while arguing for drawing up a common minimum programme for cementing opposition unity.

“The BJP-RSS regime is pushing India towards corporate-controlled, fascist state, undermining the Constitution, which defines India as a secular democratic Republic, Indian state as a welfare state and India as union of states,” the draft resolution said.

Releasing the draft resolution for the Chandigarh Party Congress to be held in September 21-25, CPI General Secretary D Raja said the RSS-BJP combine, which is inspired by Hitler and Mussolini, represents the "most organised, reactionary threat to India' constitutional democracy" and seeks to replace the vision of the Constitution with a "theocratic Hindu Rashtra", promote corporate-controlled governance and dismantle federalism.

"This is not merely an authoritarian drift -- it is a systematic effort to transform the very nature of the Indian State and undermine the values enshrined in the Constitution: secularism, democracy, socialism, federalism and social justice...They have captured political power and their objective is to change the character of the Constitution. Combating this requires more than electoral arithmetic," the draft resolution said.

CPI’s characterisation of RSS-BJP “organisations with fascist agenda” and the situation is not just “an authoritarian drift” is in variance with the CPI(M) stand that the RSS and BJP are displaying “neo-fascistic characteristics” while refusing to call Modi government “fascist or neo-fascist”.

It said the situation demands ideological clarity, political consistency and organisational unity among all democratic, secular and progressive forces. The "struggle against fascism must be comprehensive as its strategy -- fought not only in elections, but also in ideas, movements, campuses, workplaces and cultural spaces", it said.

However, the draft lamented that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc grappled with a "fundamental lack of ideological coherence", as parties who share their opposition to BJP's authoritarianism and communal agenda have widely varied political and socio-economic vision.

"This ideological inconsistency made it challenging to present a unified policy agenda that could inspire widespread confidence beyond anti-BJP sentiment (during Lok Sabha elections). In future, lessons must be drawn from this experience and attempts must be made to strengthen opposition unity through a common minimum programme," it said.

The draft also criticised Rahul Gandhi contesting against CPI in Wayanad in 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, saying it became a “repeated and avoidable stumbling block for deeper opposition unity”.

To regional parties, it said they must go beyond mere electoral arithmetic and adopt a clear left-of-centre policy orientation.