The crises in the CPI(M) are all products of its Stalinist legacy. After the Stalinist takeover of the Comintern in the mid and the late 1920’s onwards, CPI (like many other communist parties the world over) fell victim to the two stage theory/ stages theory of revolution under the influence of Stalin. Stalinism espoused the stages theory (a Menshevik idea originally) to safeguard the interests of the bureaucracy within the power structures of the Soviet Union. Socialism, in which an important element is workers’ democracy and control over the means of production and distribution, was suppressed by the rise of the Stalinist bureaucracy. The rise of Stalinism also lead to widespread persecution and mass murder of dissidents, including the assassination of Leon Trotsky, who along with Vladimir Lenin led the great October Revolution of 1917.
The theory of Socialism in One Country, betraying the internationalist spirit of Marxism, persecution of dissidents, lack of party democracy, parliamentarianism, non ideological factionalism and power struggles are all symptoms or outcome of stages theory. The mainstream communist parties in India, the CPI and CPI (M) are all based on the frame work of the stages theory advocating the necessity of a bourgeois (capitalist) democracy before moving to socialism somewhere in the distant future. Consequently their programs and understanding of class struggle and their collaboration with bourgeois parties like Indian National Congress and other regional parties in India are all based around this eternal search for a progressive Indian bourgeoisie.
Thus, both the CPI CPI(M), have not only failed to provide a genuine socialist alternative but they have completely succumbed to the pitfalls of bourgeoisie democracy, which is all about influential posts, seat sharing and gradually integration with the ruling class, and alienation from the ordinary working people. Stalinist legacy have also had its toll on independent trade unionism and student activism in India as most of them today are merely fronts of the CPI(M) and CPI.
Therefore to adopt bourgeoisie democracy and the consequent emphasis on parliamentary mudslinging politics have only put the real issues on the ground, such as organising workers, agricultural labourers, peasants and fighting for a Socialist Alternative, completely off their agenda. The mainstream media and the other political parties often portray CPI(M) cadres as being involved by the leadership in ‘organised crime’ (to safeguard its power relations and electoral influence), and even worse this sort of dirty politics is often labelled as ‘Marxist’! Events like the ruthless killing of former CPI(M) party member and Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan continue to malign the party and in turn demoralize the workers’ movement in India.
On April 11, 1964, 32 Council members at a CPI National Council meeting, walked out in protest, accusing the then CPI Chairman Shripad Amrit Dange (a Stalinist hard-liner) and his supporters of “anti-unity and anti-Communist policies”. V S Achuthanandan, one of those 32 council members recently said Pinarayi Vijayan will meet Dange’s fate’. What V.S. failed to mention was why these Danges’ keep cropping up often and how these Stalinist parties like the CPI and CPI(M) are increasingly becoming irrelevant in the lives of ordinary working people, peasants and youth; which is a consequence of the party’s wrong policies linked to Stalinism.
A Mass Party of the Working People is Needed!
While we remain critical of the policies of the left parties particularly the CPI(M), we recognize the fact that in the milieu of Indian political scenario, these parties stand apart in the fact that they represent a section of the working class of this country. In Kerala, the party that stood ground soon after independence, the first elected communist government in 1957 was removed by the mechanisation of the Indian ruling class under the leadership of Nehru.
The mass support base enjoyed by the CPI(M) and earlier the CPI in Kerala is a product of radical struggles and enormous sacrifice of its members in building one of the largest communist parties in the world. But because of the bankrupt policies of the leadership of these parties, they have not been able to break the jinx of confining themselves within the parliamentary arena in its search for the elusive progressive Indian bourgeoisie, these parties have become increasingly disconnected with the struggles of the working people and peasantry. Even the land reforms have become stagnant, failing to reach the most disadvantaged and the mass organization of the party have in turn become bullying bodies in that state. One of the biggest failures of the CPI(M) in Kerala is to remain a party of the upper middle class without encompassing the oppressed sections of the society as a whole.”
