CPI(M) party congress: Left alone can consistently fight Hindutva forces, says Prakash Karat

Senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat emphasizes Left's role in fighting Hindutva neo-fascism at party congress in Madurai.

Senior CPI(M) leader and convenor of the party Prakash Karat on Wednesday (April 2, 2025) said only the Left had the wherewithal and conviction to fight and counter Hindutva neo-fascism.

 “It is only Left, which can lead the fight against imperialist designs on the country,” he said in his inaugural address to the 24th congress of the party that is underway in Madurai. It will be held between April 2 and 6.

Mr. Karat made it clear that while the party strived for the broadest mobilisation of all secular forces against the BJP, it must be borne in mind that that the Left alone was the consistent force and firmly and uncompromisingly could fight all manifestations of Hindutva and majoritarian communalism because of the Left’s uncompromising stand on neo-liberal policies.

Alleging that the BJP-RSS combine was manipulating sub-caste identities to maintain the caste system as the basic framework of social relations in India, he charged the manuvadi values were being insidiously infiltered into the social and cultural spheres.

“The fight against manuvadi-patriarchal system, which attacks the rights of women, Dalits and adivasis are an integral part of the struggle against the Hindutva forces,” he added. 

Mr. Karat, who was the former general secretary of the party, said the political-tactical line to be adopted in the Congress should take into account the waging of a multi-faceted struggle against the BJP-RSS and the Hindutva forces. 

He said though the party and the Left had been conducting many struggles, the masses, who had been mobilized in those struggles, would be politicised only if there was a vigorous campaign among them against the reactionary and divisive Hindutva communalism.