Meeting of Party comrades on elections

A meeting was held on 23rd June to discuss the situation in our country and experience of the comrades in the election campaign. Comrades of the region participated in this meeting; a majority of them were youth who had been active in the campaign. The Party had fielded a candidate on the platform of Navnirman – a revolutionary alternative. The Party’s general secretary, Com. Lal Singh, initiated the discussion which drew active participation from the comrades, who raised some questions and elaborated other points from their own experience.

A meeting was held on 23rd June to discuss the situation in our country and experience of the comrades in the election campaign. Comrades of the region participated in this meeting; a majority of them were youth who had been active in the campaign. The Party had fielded a candidate on the platform of Navnirman – a revolutionary alternative. The Party’s general secretary, Com. Lal Singh, initiated the discussion which drew active participation from the comrades, who raised some questions and elaborated other points from their own experience.

The central point in the initiating presentation was the kind of democracy that prevails in our country and the illusion that is created about this. We live in a class divided society with the bourgeoisie, which owns the means of production, at one end and the exploited who have only their labour power to sell, at the other end. The bourgeoisie rules in this system. The political process and the political institutions are in the service of the ruling class, the bourgeoisie. The police, the courts and the entire legal system act in the interests of the bourgeoisie. They have been set up to enable the bourgeoisie to perpetuate its rule, to enable it to exploit the working people and natural resources of the country to get richer. Workers, peasants, working men, women and youth face every kind of oppression and injustice but are helpless to do anything about their condition. It is democracy only for the capitalist class – nobody else has any rights.

While this is the real situation, the bourgeoisie has created the illusion that this capitalist democracy works for all the people. It has created the illusion through its constant propaganda and through repeating the lies that our society provides equal opportunity for everyone to succeed. In recent times, the bourgeoisie has made smart phones available to lakhs of youth in the country. These smart phones give a sense of power to the youth because it gives them access to information on everything from around the world; it enables them to access their friends at any time, to enjoy music and movies. However, they are not aware that the bourgeoisie uses it as a tool to muddle their minds with lies and keep illusions alive about the capitalist system. People are told that they have elected “their government” which will work for them; the youth are told that they have to study hard and they will get the jobs they want and can become rich. Year after year, empty promises of remunerative prices and quality inputs are made to peasants. People are made to believe that this system works for them, even though their experience has been the opposite. This is because they are made to feel that they themselves have not done enough to better their lives. They are blamed for their condition!

Elections are called the biggest festival of “democracy”. The myth is created that all candidates have an opportunity to win and it is a level playing field. The Indian bourgeoisie and the imperialists use the elections to decide which party will come to power that can serve their aims. They fund their chosen parties which have proved their loyalty to them. The working class candidates have very little money and very few means of propaganda to get their message to the people, while the bourgeois parties and their candidates have crores and full access to the media. In such a context, to think that some independent or candidate of working class could win because of his politics or his work means that we have not understood the system.

Through the discussion, it also became clear to all comrades that our Party does not have any illusions about the elections. We know that in this system elections are not free and fair but dominated by money power and manipulation. We know that elections are not the path for bringing revolution. However, the elections give us full opportunity to meet with working people, discuss issues with them and deepen our contact with them. Participating in elections is an important part of our work to raise the consciousness of people and organize them to wrest power from the ruling class. Only by wresting power from the bourgeoisie can the workers and peasants become the rulers. Towards this end, we must continue to work to organize the class and all oppressed sections. We have to use all platforms of struggle for achieving our aim of revolution and socialism. We have to organize the working class to lead the oppressed to wrest the reins of power from the bourgeoisie, because the ruling class is not going to hand over power to the working class. We have to carry on our revolutionary work without let up.

Concluding the meeting, Comrade Lal Singh saluted the youth who have dedicated themselves to, and work untiringly for the cause of revolution. He expressed his confidence that all communists will unite around the revolutionary line and a day will come when the Red Flag will be flying atop the Red Fort.

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