With no major elections round the corner, Prakash Karat-led Communist Party of India-Marxist will utilise its time to fight deviations from Left ideology both inside and outside the party.
On one hand, the party plans to undertake a sustained political campaign to malign the Maoists, while on the other hand it will start the rectification campaign to 'purify' its cadres. The rectification document was adopted after a three-day meeting of the CPI-M Central Committee on Sunday.
As parts of its red bastion of West Bengal are under threat from the Maoists, Karat underlined: "We don't consider Maoists as a part of Left movement or a Left trend. We'll fight them back."
While the West Bengal government will continue its offensive against the Maoists with the help of Central forces, Karat emphasised: "We have to take this challenge on political ideological ground as well."
To underline that Maoists don't have a Left ideology, the CPI-M will try to show how it has joined hands with forces like Trinamool Congress, which is a part of the central government pursuing neo-liberal economic policies. The selective killing of the CPI-M cadre by the Maoist elements will be another highlight of this campaign.
The latest worry in the Left camp comes from the growing sympathy and recognition for the Maoists among the intellectuals. A prominent Central Committee member of the party explains, "These intellectuals are trying to establish the Naxals as the real Left. So, we have to launch a counter-campaign to show that Maoist activities have nothing to do with Left ideology and we are the true Left force."
In its strategy to re-establish links with the aam aadmi, the rectification document has also sought to 'ensuring proper integration of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary work'.
A Central Committee member explains, "In our day-to-day activities, we raise the issues of the common man but in our electoral efforts, sometimes these aspects are overshadowed. We have to maintain this ideological position even during the election adjustments."
From the Central Committee level to the block level, the party will ask its cadres for 'strengthening democratic centralism as the organisational principle, maintain communist norms and values and remould the outlook of the party members towards upholding progressive values'.
