Assembly election results a wake-up call for Modi govt, says Yechury

Sitaram Yechury believes these election results were a resounding setback to the BJP

The results of Assembly elections to West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry have come as a boost to the Opposition. Trinamool Congress defied all odds to return to power with an increase in seats while the DMK is back in the saddle after a gap of 10 years. Assam is the only solace for the BJP where it had retained power while its hopes were dashed in Bengal. For Congress, it was a dismal performance that could question its pole position in the Opposition. For the Left, it was mixed as the CPI(M)-led Left returned to power in Kerala bucking the trend of the ruling coalition losing the polls. However, it failed for the first time since Independence to win a seat in Bengal. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury spoke to DH’s Shemin Joy on the election results. Excerpts:

What do the election results tell us?

This is a very resounding setback to the BJP. The so-called myth of BJP's electoral invincibility has been busted. All the efforts made through money power and manipulation of the system also failed miserably. People have decisively rejected the BJP. These results must further strengthen the people’s movements and struggles in the country to safeguard the secular democratic character of the Indian Republic and for vastly improving the living conditions of the people.

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We are witnessing history in Kerala. The LDF has bucked the trend and a ruling coalition is back in power. What is your take?

I salute the people of Kerala for reposing faith in the LDF in an unprecedented manner. Not only that the incumbent government has been re-elected, it is being re-elected with a much better score and with a larger support. This has happened after more than four decades that the incumbent has been re-elected. This is a clear indication that the people have supported the LDF's performance of tackling all natural disasters in the last five years, of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and creating the Kerala model, of the various welfare measures undertaken to ensure people's livelihood and importantly, to steadfastly safeguard the secular democratic character of the Indian republic and federalism.

What is your analysis of Congress performance? Is Congress losing the pole-position as the main Opposition party?

People looked at the viable option to defeat the BJP in all the states. That is why people saw us as the best option in Kerala, apart from the positive things we did in the last five years. Likewise in Bengal, it was Trinamool Congress. Therefore, it had an impact on our performance. So the benchmark in these elections is not so much what is the performance of the parties. The benchmark was who is the most consistent upholder of people's interest and of the defence of secular democracy. They saw the Left in Kerala. In Bengal, they saw Trinamool as the only viable opposition to the BJP.

The Congress-Left-ISF was considered to be a good coalition. What could be the other reasons for a complete rout of the Left in West Bengal?

Our performance has been disappointing. In their urge to defeat the BJP, a bipartisan polarisation emerged squeezing out the Congress-Left-ISF. In the first past post system of the electoral democracy we have, any third force in an acute polarisation gets squeezed out. That's what happened in Bengal. A proper review of these results will be undertaken by the CPI(M) to draw needed lessons.

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So you don't believe it is an end for the Left or other forces in Bengal? Is the Left now out of picture in Bengal?

Not at all. Now will begin the real politics in Bengal concerning people's problems. Till now, there have been polarisation issues, which the BJP has been doing. Now that has been defeated. The actual people's issues will now come to fore and that is where the Left and others will emerge.

How do you see the BJP performance in West Bengal?

The BJP suffered a severe setback despite its money power and manipulations in West Bengal. The people of Bengal have very clearly rejected the ideology of communal polarisation.

With the Congress losing heavily in the elections, the chatter about a Federal Front has started again. What is your view?

The idea of a Federal Front crops up now and then. It was there before the 2019 polls also. The point is when the BJP is aggressively destroying the secular democratic Constitutional order and livelihood of people, all anti-BJP forces should join hands. This is all the more necessary given the devastation being caused by the Covid-19 pandemic upsurge that has been compounded by the Centre’s inaction and permission to super-spreader events. The results prove the point that there is a need for a broad-based unity.

Do you think these results are a wake-up call to the Modi government at the Centre? Do you think it was also a vote on the handling of the Covid-19 crisis?

We pay homage to all those who are losing their lives, completely preventable, to Covid-19. It is more than a wake-up call for the Modi government. It is a decisive rejection of the BJP policies by the people in these states. Even in Assam, the BJP has managed to hold on to their government. But the difference between the BJP and the Opposition coalition would not be large. My assessment is that it will be a very narrow vote share.