People's Democracy

           Prakash Karat’s Speech In DD

FELLOW citizens,

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is campaigning in these Lok Sabha elections for the defeat of the BJP and its alliance, for the formation of an alternative secular government at the Centre, and for strengthening the representation of the CPI(M) and the Left parties.

I wish to place before you some of the reasons why we have adopted such a platform.

Six years of BJP rule since 1998 has created a regime which favours the rich – big business, multinational corporations, big landlords, traders and contractors.  The economic policies of the Vajpayee government have provided a bonanza to these sections.   For the rest of the people, there has been deprivation and an allround attack on their livelihood. Farmers have committed suicide in thousands; agricultural workers and women in rural areas faced shrinking employment; the collapse of the public distribution system has deprived millions of cheap food; the ruinous policies of the government have led to thousands of small and medium factories being shut down.  Unemployment is a scourge  which blights the future of millions of families. 

The plight of all sections of the people has deteriorated in recent years.  Education is more a privilege than a right. 41 per cent of the children  drop out from school at the primary stage.  The health system is getting commercialised and `health for all' is a distant goal. Medicines have become more costly due to the drug policy.  63 per cent of all rural households do not have electricity. Privatisation will make power more costly and out of reach of the villages.

Alongwith these rightwing policies, BJP rule has pushed forward the hidden agenda of the RSS and the Hindutva forces.  What was claimed not to be on the NDA agenda in 1999 now finds a place in the 2004 manifesto.  The NDA is just a façade for pushing through the BJP/RSS agenda.  Systematic efforts have been  made to communalise the Indian State and society.  Anti-secular trends have been fostered. The minorities are told to accept a subordinate role, or to face dire consequence.  Gujarat in 2002 was the worst example – a warning of  what is to come if Hindutva reigns supreme.  The communal virus is sought to be injected through the educational  system with changes in the syllabi and textbooks.  History is being rewritten  undermining secular and democratic values. 

The third feature of BJP rule  is the  reliance on imperialism.  The foreign policy of the country has been changed.  At no time has our country's policy been so pro-American.  The  Vajpayee government sought to make India  a junior partner of the United States.  The fiasco of this policy is evident with our neighbour being given the status of a "major non-NATO" ally. 

As against these harmful policies, the CPI(M) believes alternative polices are necessary.  These policies have to be based on our own country's requirements and priorities.  To lift the mass of the rural people out of poverty, land reforms, increased public investment in agriculture, expansion of irrigation, schemes to generate employment and restoring the scope of the public distribution system are a must. 

There must be a halt  to the privatisation of profitable public sector units.  The indiscriminate privatisation of basic services must be halted. 

To expand public investment in agriculture, infrastructure and the social sector, suitable fiscal and taxation policies must be put in place.  India cannot afford to have one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world. 

Democratic rights must be safeguarded. POTA and anti-democratic laws should be scrapped.  The right to strike is a  democratic right which should be protected.  Secularism requires  separation of the  State and  religion in an impartial manner. India's foreign policy has to be independent and promote multi-polarity. 

The record of the Left-led governments in West Bengal, Tripura and earlier in Kerala have shown that alternative policies can be pursued even though state governments have limited powers. 

We appeal to you, therefore, to vote for the CPI(M) and the Left parties and support other democratic and secular forces in these elections.