The Unity Centre Of Communist Revolutionaries Of India (Marxist-Leninist) (UCCRI-ML), founded by Comrades DV Rao and Tarimela Nagi Reddy, is fielding candidates in the ensuing general elections to the 18th Lok Sabha and the AP Assembly. Polling for all seats is simultaneous, all in one phase, on May 13. Nominations began on April 18.
Comrade Vinod, Secretary, UCCRI(ML) issued a press statement dated April 14, saying they are filing nominations in 10 (out of 17) parliament constituencies in Telangana, and four (out of 25) in Andhra Pradesh (AP). They are also doing so in 12 (out of 175 ) Assembly constituencies from AP. Following is the call issued, also through lakhs of pamphlets:
“ Defeat the BJP and its allies which are pursuing reactionary internal and external policies!
Oppose the various other forces practising and supporting such reactionary policies!!
Support the Communist Revolutionaries who are fighting for land, democracy and independence!!!”
BJP is not strong in Telangana or AP. Then why the call to defeat BJP? It is contesting together with and its allies in AP. It is explained as follows:
“ The BJP is pursuing policies of plundering the people of our country to enrich the big business, pro-imperialist foreign capital and landlord classes. It is pursuing a reactionary foreign policy of serving the US super power in its drive for global hegemony, war and plunder while pursuing a policy of regional hegemony, expansionism and war in India’s neighbourhood and beyond. The BJP through its predatory policies has condemned the people as a whole to live as second-rate citizens. On the other hand, through its aggressive religious fanaticism and predatory policies, it is systematically trying to reduce the Muslim masses of our country to the status of third-rate citizens.
“ The BJP has further strengthened the rule of army, paramilitary and armed police in vast areas of our country and suppressing the people of various nationalities who live there. It has enforced a regime of undeclared emergency all over the country. It is suppressing the people and the liberal opposition through various black laws using repressive and coercive mechanism of the state. This in a nutshell is the crux of its fascist and autocratic policies.
“ Hence we call upon the people to defeat this reactionary BJP in the ensuing elections to the 18th Lok Sabha…”
The UCCRI-ML upholds and practises revolutionary mass line. It does not subscribe to the parliamentary path; however, it has been using elections as a tactic to educate and organize people, by exposing the policies and practices of the ruling classes, as represented by various political parties. It seeks to educate people to shed various illusions, and to focus on real and basic issues, and on immediate tasks.
The UCCRI does not believe that fascism and reactionary policies can be countered merely through elections, or by supporting Congress party, now in power in Telangana state. It said:
“ The Congress claims to be the real opposition to the reactionary BJP. But it has practiced basically the same reactionary policies over decades of its rule at the Centre. The differences, if any, are of outward appearance rather than of real substance. Even today it is playing the role of a reactionary opposition to the BJP Government at the Centre. No purpose will be served by nursing any illusions on the Congress.”
BJP has no allies in Telangana. But the scene is different in AP, where it has different kinds of allies :
“There are some parties like the TDP and Jana Sena who have allied with the BJP by joining the NDA. It is necessary to defeat them as they will only reinforce the reactionary rule of the BJP.
“ There are some others who are supporting and who will support the BJP regime or any other reactionary power which comes to power at the Centre. The YSRCP is one such party which has supported the reactionary BJP rule at the Centre all these five years (2019-2024). It will have no qualms in repeating this performance in future. Hence defeating BJP requires rejecting its supporters like the YSRCP Party in the Lok Sabha polls.”
In Telangana, BJP has no allies, and the current ruling party is Congress, which defeated the BRS (erstwhile TRS founded by KCR), in Dec 2023 Assembly elections. The statement says:
“ The BRS claims to represent an alternative to the BJP and the Congress. In spite of calling itself an All India Party, it has not come up with even outlines of its policy framework. It speaks of its Telangana Model.
“ But ten years of BRS rule has only enriched the big business, landlords and foreign capital, while vast sections of the rural and urban poor were left high and dry. This has enabled the return of the reactionary Congress rule in the State. Under these circumstances no purpose would be served by nursing any illusions on this party.”
BJP has no strength of its own in AP. It had polled less than one percent vote, less than NOTA votes, despite Modi’s campaign, in last elections when it fought alone. Its earlier alliance with TDP was broken. Same was the fate of Congress which too polled less than one percent vote. The statement explains:
“The BJP is trying to fish in the troubled waters of the State to get a foothold in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress dreams of making a comeback in the State from which it was wiped out as a result of its reactionary policies.”
“The Assembly elections being held in Andhra Pradesh State are essentially a no-holds barred struggle for power between the two groups of the ruling classes.
“ While the YSRCP is the ruling party in the State, the TDP-led bloc as a part of the NDA alliance, is supported by the ruling party at the Centre. There is no basic difference between the policies of these two groupings as far as the problems of the people and of the State of Andhra Pradesh are concerned.
“ The ‘differences’ being dinned into the ears of the people are nothing but an offshoot of their jostling for power. While the TDP is aligned with the BJP, the YSRCP is not prepared to oppose it. In fact, it supported the BJP rule all through its five year term (2019-2024). Both the groupings are serving the landlords, big business and foreign imperialist capital and are opposed to interests of the people and of the State of Andhra Pradesh.”
Hence the call:
“Problems of the people can only be solved by the abolition of landlordism and distribution of land to the tiller, by guaranteeing democratic rights to the people struggling for the solution of their problems and by pursuing an independent foreign policy free from the influence of the US super power and imperialism. In brief, it requires a struggle for land, democracy and Independence.”
The UCCRI(ML) treats elections as only a secondary form of political struggle, but that is necessary to be waged. Hence its call, and demands:
“ The UCCRI(ML) is striving to achieve these objectives by building up a mass revolutionary movement of the people led by the communist revolutionaries.”
Following are the demands of this mass revolutionary movement:
“1. India should quit the Quad, reject the so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy and come out of the orbit of pro-US super power foreign policy. Instead it should adopt an independent foreign policy to serve the genuine national interests of the country for peace and development and to oppose war-mongering under any pretext.
2. Pursue independent economic policies free from the subservience to US strategy for global domination.
3. Self-reliance and protection to national industries in general and to Telugu national industry in particular.
4. Improvement in the working conditions of workers and middle classes and necessary wage increase.
5. Abolish landlordism and distribute land to the tiller.
6. Development of an anti-feudal and anti-imperialist education and culture in general; and in particular to realize the national unity of Telugu people and an all-round development of Telugu culture and language.
7. Abolish all the repressive black laws. Guarantee complete democracy for all national and democratic and revolutionary forces so that the present semi-feudal and semi-colonial political and economic system may be changed.”
The statement concludes thus:
“ During our election campaign we will carry out an extensive political campaign to explain these demands to the people and raise their consciousness. We will expose all the anti-people and reactionary policies as well as the various anti-democratic practices of the ruling classes on this basis.
We appeal to the people to support these demands and vote for our candidates in the ensuing elections to the Parliament and Andhra Pradesh Assembly on May 13, 2024.”
Campaign by the ruling class parties is through hired activists, which is not the case with UCCRI. The extent and seriousness of its campaign can be understood from the following details:
During the last Telangana Assembly elections of Nov-Dec 2023, for instance, UCCRI-ML fielded candidates, including three women, in 33 constituencies, 10 of them reserved for STs, with the call:
“ Defeat BJP, an autocratic party with one-nation chauvinism, Hindu religious fanaticism, and subservience to the US-super power.”
Despite its limited resources, UCCRI-ML had mobilized around 2000 activists, including hundreds each of women, adivasis, and youth, who volunteered to join the campaign in around 6000 villages and 100 towns, and distributed around 6 lakh detailed pamphlets, with all the above slogans and demands. That is apart from recorded speeches and revolutionary songs, played through loud-speakers, and street-corner meetings in hundreds of places. It is meant to educate and mobilize people into movements, rather than tail ruling class parties.
This is a path different from that of Left parties which mostly tailed the ruling classes. Different also from several ML groups that hobnobbed with ruling class parties.
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MA Krishna is a media person who contributed articles to countercurrents.org, including on subjects related to Telangana.
Among them are :
Grameena Pedala Sangham,(of Rural poor), Telangana State conference, is an important mile-stone ( 22/03/2023)
BJP’s Mission South and Politics of Hate in Telangana (12/09/2022)
On Assembly elections 2023 Nov-Dec, in Telangana, (27/10/2023)
