(1) Important event: The results of the fourth general elections clearly showed that the era of one party monopoly rule of the Indian ruling classes is over. The Congress, which carried on monopoly rule for the last twenty years by enjoying the status of the largest political party, which controlled the voters’ list, possessed absolute power of determining the territorial limits of the constituencies and creating pressure in the elections, the Congress, which being aided by Anglo-American imperialism and with the economic-political help of the Soviet revisionists exercised dominance in domestic as well as international arena, has completely sported the mask of ultra-nationalism by engaging in war with China and Pakistan twice, the Congress, which by carrying on a rule of terror with the help of repressive policy of lathi and bullet has proved that its power is absolute–the defeat of that very Congress proved that the reactionary forces are nothing but paper tigers, though appearing to be powerful. So like 15th August of 1947, a sense of victory has dawned on the masses.
(2) Reasons for the defeat of the Congress: Instead of ending the exploitation of the principal enemies of the people, the imperialism and feudalism in its 20 years of rule, the Congress has rather intensified it. As a result, the contradiction of the people with imperialism and feudalism has intensified to such an extent that the same has started bursting out during the last few years. The more this contradiction intensified, the conflict of the ruling classes with the minority nationalities continued to burst into the open and as an impact of this, accentuation of the contradiction between the alliance of British and other forces and the Soviet-US alliance of forces brought about this miserable defeat of the Congress.
(3) The problems facing us : The contradictions which have been intensified can not be solved by imperialism and feudalism in co-operation with the bourgeoisie; the contradictions will further intensify. That does not mean that people’s democratic government will automatically be established. Because, the state machinery of the exploiting classes is still intact. The dream of attaining people’s democracy without destroying that state machinery is nothing but a revisionist idea. The working class leadership alone can destroy this state machinery. The weakness of the leadership has become too pronounced–because the conscious leadership of the working class in the spontaneous mass outburst throughout India has remained very weak. The short-lived character of these outbursts has revealed that due to the weak leadership of the working classes, the outburst has suddenly died down soon after intensifying. There was no stability in the movement in any of the states.
(4) Our tasks: Behind the victory celebration of the masses lies the aspiration to develop this country as a happy and prosperous country, which can not be fulfilled by the non-Congress alternative governments. A government confined within the limits of parliamentary democracy is not capable of doing that. Our responsibility towards this government is to utilize this government for solving the main problem, that is, in the struggle for overthrowing imperialism and feudalism. The exploiting classes can not allow this uncertain situation for them to continue and they would definitely try to consolidate the situation in favour of imperialism and feudalism again. Despite contradiction within the imperialist alliance of forces they are feeling the necessity of consolidating their rule in India all the more because of the reason that with the extension of the influence of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to India, imperialism and revisionism has become cornered. So, imperialism and revisionism will definitely unite to try to create a secured situation for the imperialist alliance by striking secret anti-communist agreement with various bourgeois parties at the centre and the states on the basis of opposition to China. So the greatest weapon in their hands is to create illusion about parliamentary democracy. To this end, some benefit is being given to various classes, but whatever benefits are given, they do not have the capacity to give any benefit to the largest segment of the population, the peasantry. This peasantry is the main force of the people’s democratic revolution of our country. The task of developing free-areas in the peasant zones is the main task of the working class and other revolutionary classes today. The work of developing free-areas in the countryside can be accelerated only by intensifying the class struggle of the working class and other revolutionary classes.
(5) The party : It has time and again been proved that a revisionist trend does exist among the communist party leadership. That they have tried to practice revisionism within the party has been proved in the recent activities.
-
(a) The leadership has not accepted that the highest form of Marxism-Leninism of the present era is Mao Tse Tung thought, till today. They have not criticized the plan of world hegemony by the Soviet revisionists in conjunction US imperialism. Without fighting out this plan and without supporting the Mao Tse Tung thought, the tide of revolutionary movement can not be created and leadership of the working class in the revolutionary movement can not be established.
(b) The revolutionary situation of India is being constantly dismissed. As a result, the revolutionary responsibility of the working class is not being developed.
(c) Ideological struggle within the party is being constantly blocked, as a result of which, the task of rousing the party members to revolutionary consciousness is being neglected.
(d) By not creating an atmosphere of criticism and self-criticism within the party, the responsibility of developing a revolutionary party is being virtually denied.
(e) On the question of alternative government also, the trend of class compromise is manifesting itself in the statements of the party leadership. There can be only one objective of the communists behind joining the alternative government and that is, creating a situation in which a call for struggle can be given by remaining within the government–not protecting the dignity of the parliament. But instead of moving in that direction, the goal of the struggle is being obscured by telling on the one hand that, we have to struggle but on the other that, the proprietary classes need not be afraid. The target of the struggle is not defined. And this path will inevitably lead to the path of class compromise.
Comrades, the events before and after the elections have clearly established that India is passing through a deep political crisis. This crisis has been deepened by the revolutionary situation in India. The political crisis will go on deepening and simultaneously, the political consciousness of the masses will also go on increasing. The situation will demand political leadership from the communists, so the question of developing the party as a genuine Marxist-Leninist party has become all the more essential. The more the inner-party struggle can be intensified, more the number of comrades participating in the internal ideological struggle and more the leadership of the working class established on the Indian revolution.
3rd April, 1967
