We must strive for casteless, socialist India: D Raja

CPI General Secretary D Raja on Friday called for Left unity, as he stressed creating a “socialist India” and saving the country from “fascist” forces.

Addressing an event at Ajoy Bhawan, the headquarters of the Communist Party of India (CPI), to mark the 101st foundation day of the party, Raja said big challenges lie ahead and stressed the need to intensify the struggle to “save the nation”.

“One must understand the challenges we are facing today very seriously. In the last 100 years, the party faced many setbacks. Many groups emerged, and the Communist movement stands split today,” he said. “How long this can continue? The Left movement stands divided... During the British time, we were fighting and putting in efforts together. In the present political situation, how long can the Communists remain like that,” Raja asked.

The issue was discussed in the recently held party conference in Chandigarh, he said.

“We have been consistent as a political party, appealing for Left unity. When we call for unification, it’s for others also to do serious introspection,” Raja said.

“When fascist forces are fracturing political units, how long can Communists remain,” he asked.

The senior Left leader also said the country is under attack from “communal-fascist forces”. “The BJP-RSS combine is in power. How can we fight them? How can we remove them? We fought the battle against colonial rule. The country became independent, but Independent India is under attack from communal, fascist forces.

“We will have to look at the future, not only of the party, but the future of our nation... How to save India. We should strive for a classless, casteless, socialist India. We must challenge the forces which are against our ideology,” Raja said. CPI Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar said while the party has faced setbacks, it remains a strong force across the country, raising issues of the common people.

“Our visibility may not be that satisfactory in Parliament and state assemblies. But it does not mean the CPI is a small force... It is an active political party in hundreds of districts, thousands of villages,” Kumar told PTI Videos.

“Electoral politics has changed completely, and it is very difficult to cope with the changing situation. We cannot be a casteist party, or a party supporting a particular religion… There are certain limitations,” he said.

Kumar, however, added, “But we will overcome it for sure. What matters is the support of the common man.

“Today, the CPI may not be in that good a position, but we will overcome it for sure. The party played a very active role in the movement for Independence. The CPI wants to be the champion of people’s cause.”

Asked about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also celebrating its centenary this year, Kumar said, “That is right, but these 100 years were entirely different… Is there any example of the RSS fighting for the poor people?”

“The Indian society has its own peculiarities, and the RSS knows how to make use of them. It knows that people are highly casteist, it knows about their religious feelings.

“The CPI has always fought against the ruling administration, be it the British or the Congress, and the RSS was always part of the ruling administration,” he claimed.

The CPI was formed on December 26, 1925, at a party conference in Kanpur.

It played a key role in India’s Independence movement. The slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ was coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani, who chaired the reception committee at the Kanpur conference.

The main opposition party from the ‘50s through the ‘60s, the CPI, also played a key role in the peasant revolt in Telangana.

The oldest among the Communist parties, the CPI got 9.9 per cent votes in 1962, but its vote share started dropping post the split, which led to the creation of the CPI(M) – down to about 5 per cent in 1967, and around 2.5 per cent in 1991.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the CPI won four seats with 1.43 per cent vote share. In 2014, it managed 0.78 per cent vote share and only one seat, which increased to two seats each in 2019 and 2024.