On April 10, the Election Commission withdrew the Communist Party of India’s national party status. The decision was not unexpected for the party since the EC had been serving it notices since 2019. According to the criteria, prescribed unilaterally by the Commission, CPI had lost the minimum required number of seats to be recognised as a national party.
The EC’s mandate is to act according to technical yardsticks. These yardsticks cannot adequately capture the popular support enjoyed by a political party. The first-past-the-post system is the Commission’s only criterion to gauge the strength or weakness of a political party. The deficiencies of the country’s electoral system escape its attention. The EC and the Union government, which often attempts to guide the Commission, have repeatedly ignored demands for comprehensive electoral reforms raised by political parties, including the CPI.
Once the notification withdrawing the CPI’s national status was out, many in the right-wing political space began celebrating. Certain political parties prize the EC’s “certificate” as paramount to their existence. The CPI is different. The party believes in parliamentary democracy and hence, elections and votes are matters of importance to it. But it does not think that the agenda of a revolutionary party should revolve only around electoral performance. The ideology and politics of the communist movement regard people and their struggles as most important. Electoral battles are only one part of this struggle. That is why the CPI is confident about the recognition that’s the most important — in the hearts of the people.
The Indrajit Gupta Committee report of 1998 was welcomed by all democrats as a landmark attempt to ensure free and fair elections in the country. But the EC never gave any serious consideration to its observations and recommendations. The committee put forth suggestions such as proportional representation, state funding of elections and the right to call back (voters calling back their representative in the event of their failure in fulfilling the mandate).
The Commission never circulated the recommendations among political parties or the public at large. In contrast, it has shown keenness about the electoral bonds system that makes tall claims to accountability in electoral funding. Today, people know who benefits the most from these bonds. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms, the BJP has cornered most of the funding from electoral bonds. Muscle power and growing instances of hate speech continue to plague our electoral system with the EC offering no remedy.
The CPI has left an indelible imprint on India’s history since its inception in 1925. Even before the Communist Party was officially formed, the communists wrote the agenda of complete independence in the annals of India’s freedom struggle. The All India Kisan Sabha took the lead in organising peasants, the All India Students Federation mobilised students, writers came under the umbrella of the Progressive Writers’ Association and artists were drawn to the Indian Peoples Theatre Association. The role of the communists in giving shape to the organisation of the working class — the AITUC — is unforgettable. Such endeavours were not contingent on recognition by a statutory agency. The CPI’s history is one of innumerable struggles and sacrifices. It has fought for the country’s freedom, peace and progress in battlefields like Punnapra Vayalar, Telangana and Tebhaga. It took on the Khalistani separatists in Punjab and communal forces elsewhere.
In the course of its struggles, the Party has fought and won elections as well. The first-ever non-Congress government in the country was formed by the CPI in Kerala in 1957. Victories and defeats are part of electoral battles and the CPI has experienced both. It has never become over-jubilant or blinkered after electoral victories and has never lost hope after a defeat. The communal forces are well aware that this is the first party that gave the clarion call for broad-based cooperation of all secular-democratic-left forces. They are aware of the CPI’s commitment in mobilising the toiling masses against corporate loot. They are also aware of the party’s role in protecting the foundational principles of our Constitution.
The EC’s derecognition will not hinder the communist path. The CPI will endeavour to “reconnect with the people”. The party will learn from them and fight alongside them.
The writer is Secretary, CPI National Council and a Rajya Sabha MP
