Defeat Fascist RSS-BJP in Lok Sabha Elections
Unite & Resist Hindutva Attacks
Build Struggles for Livelihood & Rights
Coming Parliamentary elections (April-May 2024) will be one of the most important elections to determine the course of ruling class politics in India. At stake is not just which Party will form the Govt. but also the type of governance the country will have. Ruling RSS-BJP during their power over last ten years have come a long way in preparation of imposing fascist dictatorship over the country. They have prepared the ground for all round attack against the people- their organizations and struggles- sharpening tools of repression – both its apparatus as well as legal framework. Simultaneously, they are also attacking opposition parties of ruling classes, preparing the way for their monopoly over state power to impose fascist dictatorship over the country. The most important issue before the people during these elections is therefore to expose, oppose, punish and defeat RSS-BJP.
RSS-BJP drive to impose fascist system draws support from major sections of corporate- foreign and Indian- as well as rural elite. In fact over last ten years largesse has been showered over the corporate, some of them like Ambani and Adani benefiting the most. It is due to their drive to increase their wealth and power amidst deepening socio-economic crisis that dominant section of the ruling classes want to change the existing mode of governance to fascism. They wish to suppress people’s struggles and have chosen RSS-BJP for its capacity to divide the people on religious lines, divert their anger and disrupt their unity necessary to challenge this anti-people and anti-democratic drive.
RSS-BJP and ruling class sections supporting them, wish to change if not abolish the present Constitution, to do away with whatever rights people,due to their struggles,haveunder it. Constitution, framed after domestic ruling classes came to power at end of British colonial rule over the country, has incorporated aspects of struggles of the people during movement against colonial rule. These aspects are related to anti-colonialism, democracy, secularism, social justice and federalism. RSS, which had chosen deliberately to stay away from the freedom movement, has been the chosen representative of the sections of ruling classes to do away with these aspects. Not only they wish to do away with rights of states, they want to alter electoral process to perpetuate their absolute control over the state machinery. They wish to do away with having to take measures before elections. Dominant sections of the ruling classes want to do away with that. This is the danger facing the people of the country today.
With the help of dominant sections of mainstream media controlled by corporate RSS-BJP has weaved a fake narrative of improving conditions of the people and emerging India. Intensifying contradictions among imperialist powers have helped them to an extent both in terms of getting favourable treatment and in flaunting their so-called independence but this cannot hide the underlying crude reality of worsening conditions of the people and unfulfilled promises. Non-publication and even non-collection of data has been hallmark of RSS-BJP rule. They make unfounded, unsubstantiated claims of their achievements but their own pronouncements prove their statements to be lies. They claim to have reduced poverty but also claim to provide 5 kg free ration to nearly 80 crore people. Non-poor availing 5 kg of free grains! India is home to largest number of destitute, even more than our proportion of population. India is sliding on the scale of Global Development Index, Global Hunger Index and World Happiness Index. Govt. boasts of India becoming fifth largest economy but this most populous country of the world is among the countries having lowest per capita GDP, and that too is very unevenly distributed. So gross is inequality that richest 1% of the population own 40% of the wealth of the country, highest since the records are available.
Last ten years of RSS-BJP rule have been unprecedented disaster for the people. RSS-BJP leader who became Prime Minister in 2014, Mr. Modi, promised to double income of farmers by 2022, since long past. Forgetting their promise, Modi Govt. launched attacks on Peasantry and Agriculture through three Agri Acts, an attack that was beaten back by peasantry through their epic struggle (2020-2021). Debts on farmers are increasing and they continue to commit suicides while prices of inputs are rising. Modi had promised to implement Swaminathan Committee recommendation for determining MSP but unashamedly went back on this. Over ten years of Modi Govt. MSP has increased on an average of 5% per year which is below the rate of inflation. Though they are increasing MSP in view of elections, but they are refusing to make a law guaranteeing procurement of all crops on MSP.
RSS-BJP and Modi had promised creation of 2 crore jobs for youth every year. This jumla has been a cruel joke. Having abolished annual Employment-Unemployment Survey and Labour Bureau’s quarterly enterprise surveys, they make false claims for reduction in unemployment. All claims of increasing employment are based on increase in self-employment which includes even unpaid work in household enterprises. Share of self-employed has increased to 57.3% (from 49.5% in 2013-14) while share of salaried workers declined from 23.1% to 20.9% of the total work force over the same period. Stagnation and even decline has been on in manufacturing sector despite talk of “Make in India” and “Atmnirbharta” while construction sector employment has risen to over 13% of the work force where overwhelming majority (83%) do casual work and 11% are self-employed denoting low quality jobs and irregular employment. Worse still, inflation adjusted wages of India’s workers have remained stagnant (risen less than 1%) during RSS-BJP rule while attacks on working class have risen. Small industries and small shopkeepers have been further squeezed out with demonetization, GST and lack of market protection.
There has been systematic attack on public education and public health with increasing privatization and commercialization. A lot of people are pushed into poverty due to out of pocket expenditure on illnesses. A sinister campaign to poison young minds is on through saffronization where teaching of science, history, virtually all disciplines is distorted, enquiry curbed, inquisitiveness punished and conformity rewarded. Lumpenism is being promoted in youth, they being used as hoodlums for RSS designs.
Though the policies underlying these attacks are of ruling classes, but RSS-BJP have resorted to their unchecked implementation and through imposition of fascism wish to clear the ground for all round attack against the people. They wish to impose terrorist methods to serve the ruling classes and imperialists. Today threat of fascism comes from RSS-BJP.
RSS-BJP rule over the decade has been unmitigated disaster in terms of social cohesion. Religious minorities, particularly Muslims, have been prime target of attack, their rights annulled, their workplaces, houses and places of worship and education destroyed and collective punishment meted out to the community. Muslims are being targeted to communally polarize society in favour of RSS-BJP. Citizenship Amendment Act Rules have been notified to deepen communal division in Eastern India especially West Bengal. Attacks on Christians too have increased over this period. Attacks on Dalits have increased both economically and socially. Manuwadi code is being imposed on women. Laws are being changed and security forces are increased to dispossess tribals from their land in the interest of corporate. Modi led RSS-BJP Govt. has been most offensive against poor and unprivileged people.
RSS-BJP’s Hindutva is weapon of most reactionary sections of ruling classes against minorities as well as all socially oppressed, tribals and women endorsing as it does patriarchy and unquestioned obedience. It is to instill fear among vast section of people. Hindutva promotes upper caste chauvinism.It runs counter to the interests of vast majority of the people whose united struggle is the most potent weapon to check advance of fascist forces.
RSS-BJP Govt. represents the most reactionary sections of the ruling classes who have launched cruelest attacks against people.Over last ten years of rule they have captured most of the institutions of the state. They have used on large scale UAPA and other criminal laws against the activists of people’s movement. Democratic space is being squeezed and even shut down. RSS-BJP have unleashed CBI, ED, IT agencies against leaders of opposition parties to suppress these parties and force their leaders to join the ruling bandwagon. The caged parrots are turned into hawks against opposition. This has distorted playing field between ruling class parties. Through electoral bonds they had sought to monopolize big contributions and squeeze contributions to ruling class opposition parties. Their move to impose fascism must be checked.
To check their design to impose fascist dictatorship, revolutionary forces must unite the people in all round struggle against RSS fascism, its Hindutva base and its corporate sponsors. This broad based unity is the sole guarantee to stop their efforts to impose fascism. It is the bulwark of struggle against fascism. All efforts should be made to defeat RSS-BJP and their NDA allies in coming elections.
Progressive, democratic and patriotic forces must launch a vigorous campaign against Hindutva attacks against minorities, their religious places and socially oppressed sections. People should be mobilized on vast scale, if necessary, beginning from those areas where progressive and democratic forces are relatively strong and mobilizing all forces on this plank. Large scale mobilization of people will send message to people in other areas.
Majoritarian fascism is most vulnerable to struggles of the people, to struggles of different sections of people provided these are waged with clarity of purpose and determination to succeed. Class struggle and struggle of different sections of people furnish and strengthen the forces for struggle against fascists. As RSS-BJP intensify attacks against different sections of people, they create conditions for revolutionary and struggling forces to unite the people into struggle. These struggles not only achieve the immediate result of pushing back a particular offensive, they also open up democratic space and forge people’s unity in struggle against fascist rulers.
CPI(ML)- New Democracy appeals to the people of the country to defeat RSS-BJP fascists and their allies in the coming elections. We recognize that even the opposition parties of ruling classes do not represent alternate economic and social policies. When in power, ruling class opposition parties implement anti-people policies and suppress people’s struggles. But it is RSS-BJP which are moving to even close the space for struggle against these policies, to brutally suppress all people’s struggles. We recognize the limited nature of democratic rights under the existing dispensation and we remain committed to mobilize the people to defend and enlarge democratic freedoms. However, today fascist forces threaten to abolish even the democratic rights to the extent they exist. This attack must be resisted and defeated to strengthen struggle for going further in people’s struggles.
It is clear that opposition parties of ruling classes do not recognize the danger of fascism from RSS. Hence, they are not putting up common candidates against RSSS-BJP in coming elections. They are only concerned with increasing their own parliamentary strength even as they talk of defeating BJP.
CPI(ML)-New Democracy appeals to the people to unite and rise against the danger posed by these fascist forces. Spare no effort to expose, isolate and defeat the fascist forces- RSS-BJP.
CPI(ML)- New Democracy appeals to all progressive, democratic, patriotic forces and individuals to rise to the occasion for this historic duty to foil the attempts of fascist forces. Unite to check and defeat the designs of these forces. It is in the utmost interest of the struggle of the people for their rights and freedom and for the struggle for a better society.
Central Committee,
CPI(ML)-New Democracy
March 27, 2024
