Building the alternative is an urgent necessity

Results have come in of the elections held for state assemblies of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Mizoram. The Congress has won a majority of seats in Delhi and Mizoram, and has emerged as single largest party in Rajasthan. BJP has retained power in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

In all the five states, the vote share of the ruling party came down.  This is the case even where the incumbent party managed to win enough seats to return to power.  In this respect, the results are not really a morale booster either for the Congress or the BJP, as those parties and various media analysts are making out.  Initial estimates indicate that the share of those who voted for candidates other than those of Congress and BJP ranged from 20% to 30% in the states of Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan.  This is not a small share, given that these states have no strong regional party and generally witness Congress-BJP contests in every election.  The significant share of votes that went to contestants other than Congress and BJP is a reflection of the search among the people for an alternative to the status quo.  

These elections took place in the backdrop of growing discontent among the majority of people with their deteriorating economic conditions and heightened insecurity.  There is widespread anger among the people against those in power.  That the elections still resulted in the Congress and BJP forming the governments in these five states shows, once again, the nature of the political system and the electoral process.  They are not mechanisms for the people to exercise their will.  On the contrary, elections only serve the bourgeoisie to select which of its parties can do a better job of serving the capitalists while fooling the people that something is being done for them.  

These elections took place in conditions of escalating terrorist massacres all over the country, with the Mumbai terror attacks taking place just few days before Delhi and Rajasthan went to the polls.   A high pitched campaign was carried out by the two main parties of the bourgeoisie, each claiming to be the better fighter against terrorism. 

What is clear is that in the coming days, in the run up to the general elections, the bourgeoisie and its media will step up the propaganda that there is “no alternative to Congress or BJP” in order to wage the “war against terrorism”.  As the impact of the economic crisis deepens, the ruling class will demand emergency measures that guarantees its interests.  It will organise all kinds of diversions to prevent the working masses from actively seeking an alternative.  More handouts to big capitalists, more terrorist attacks, further communalisaton of the polity, as well as stepping up war preparations against Pakistan, in collaboration with the US, can be expected.

As all political parties begin to draw appropriate lessons to plan for the Lok Sabha elections due in a few months from now, communists need to seriously think about what they ought to do.  What can and should be a united communist response in this context?

The most important need is to build the alternative to the rule of bourgeois parties that are committed to the capitalist reform program, the Indo-US strategic alliance and war preparations against Pakistan.  Communists have to play a leading role in building such an alternative, by presenting it boldly in front of the people and rallying their support. 

In these state elections the Communist Ghadar Party of India organised to enable working people, in their mohallas, workplaces and villages, to select candidates from among their midst.  It assisted such candidates to put forward.a program of concrete measures to defend working people’s livelihood and rights, instead of protecting corporate profits.  These people’s candidates pledged to render account to the electorate and step down if they are recalled.  They spearheaded the campaign for the people to have a say in what kind of development is pursued and how public funds are deployed in their areas.

The campaign to field candidates selected by people’s samitis received a very positive response. At the same time, it is just the beginning, and much more work lies ahead.  That some candidates selected by the people and their local committees managed to establish themselves as respectable and serious contenders is an important step forward.  It shows that in spite of heavy odds, it is possible to use elections as a platform to challenge the existing system and course of society.