CPI slams Congress, questions ‘Hinduism vs Hindutva’ in new resolution

The Left party did not agree with Rahul’s ‘Hinduism versus Hindutva’ debate as a good political strategy

In a scathing criticism, the Communist Party of India (CPI) said the Congress failed to “anchor and galvanise” the Opposition to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in electoral battles, and its decision to field Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad in the 2019 Lok Sabha election “harmed” the Left, as well as prevented a secular, democratic unity among anti-BJP parties.

The Left party did not agree with Rahul’s ‘Hinduism versus Hindutva’ debate, either, as a good political strategy, saying there was no clarity on Congress’s stand on secularism—a euphemism for saying that the main Opposition party is peddling soft Hindutva to take on the BJP.

Strong remarks against the Congress were made in the draft political resolution publicised by the CPI on Friday for its triennial party congress to be held in Vijayawada in October this year.

Though the CPI criticised the Congress, it also called for the coming together of broad secular democratic forces to take on the BJP.

The Left party analysed that the Opposition “failed to forge a meaningful, reliable and ideologically committed front” to take on the BJP at the national level. The resolution was critical of the Congress decision to field Rahul from Wayanad while analysing the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“Let us see what the Congress is going to do. It needs to introspect on what it did. It is not just elections; the Congress needs to look at its ideological and economic positions. Congress cannot stick to neo-liberal policy, and it should go back to the Nehruvian model. I had already said that the decision to field Rahul in Wayanad was short-sighted,” CPI general secretary D Raja told a press conference, explaining the remarks in the resolution.

The resolution, in a section on the Congress party, said the main Opposition party is “troubled with internal strife, defections and with a lack of ideological coherence amongst its leadership and party workers”.

“At the national level, the Congress has not been able to forge a solid Opposition unity to take on the BJP in the electoral battle. The Congress failed to anchor and galvanise the Opposition and its approach to this vital question has remained ad hoc. Many regional parties are now claiming the centre space in the Opposition ranks,” it said.

Describing Congress as “ideologically incoherent and inconsistent”, the CPI resolution went on to question its strategy on seeking to differentiate Hinduism versus Hindutva.

“Secular credentials of the Congress were questioned after the demolition of the Babri mosque under Narasimha Rao’s Prime Ministership. On the issue of secularism, the Congress stance has not been very clear as its leadership is still engaged in the debate of Hinduism versus Hindutva instead of sticking to the Constitutional ground of secularism,” the resolution said.