US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI3432

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 003432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2015 
TAGS: ECON, PINR, IN, Indian Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: INDIA'S COMMUNISTS ADOPT AMBITIOUS AGENDAS AT 
PARTY CONGRESSES 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 3365 
 
Classified By: Charge Robert O. Blake, Jr. for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) Summary: India's Communist parties have been 
energized by their growing power as "kingmakers" who keep the 
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in power.  During 
recently-concluded party congresses, they passed the baton to 
dynamic new leaders and broadened their agenda to take on 
ambitious new goals.  Newly-elected Communist Party of India 
(Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat hopes to mobilize 
the Left around a program emphasizing rural concerns such as 
land reform and caste discrimination, while integrating the 
Indian Left into a worldwide movement against "globalization 
and liberalization."  Confident that their power has 
solidified in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the Communists 
hope to expand into the "Hindi Belt" before forming a "Third 
Front" capable of coming to power in New Delhi.  The 
Communists acknowledge that there is no alternative to 
improved US-India relations, which can benefit India, but 
view Washington as the architect of a world system that 
opposes Indian interests.  The outcome of the West Bengal and 
Kerala state elections in 2006 will indicate whether they are 
able to maintain their current momentum.  End Summary. 
 
Passing the Torch 
----------------- 
 
2.  (U) The four parties of the Left Front (LF) completed 
their party Congresses between February 17 and April 11.  The 
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Congress from April 6-11 
was the most important, as the CPI(M) is the LF flagship.  On 
April 11, CPI(M) General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet 
stepped down as the party General Secretary and the party 
elected Prakash Karat to replace him.  His wife, Brinda 
Karat, became the first female elected to the CPI(M) 
Politburo. 
 
3.  (U) Karat quickly laid out an ambitious agenda that he 
hoped would further extend LF influence.  In his acceptance 
speech, he emphasized that the CPI(M) was "a party of the 
young," and would continue to recruit among colleges and 
universities, while expanding beyond its traditional base in 
West Bengal, Tripura, and Kerala into the rural areas of the 
Hindi heartland on North India.  Karat also pledged to move 
beyond the traditional Marxist emphasis on class identity to 
address the caste discrimination that plagues the 
Hindi-speaking states. 
 
4.  (U) The LF parties also agreed that their support for the 
Congress-dominated UPA government was only "temporary," and 
was aimed primarily at preventing a return of the BJP to 
power in New Delhi.  However, Karat emphasized both to the 
press and to the Charge (reftel) that the LF would not 
withdraw support to the UPA, which would serve out a full 
term.  While the LF opposes some UPA economic policies, he 
noted, it would keep the UPA in power as long as it 
implemented the Common Minimum Program (CMP). 
 
5.  (U) The CPI(M) pledged to work for the formation of a 
"Third Front" government that would not include Congress or 
the BJP, but the political situation would have to "mature" 
before this could occur.  Karat pointed out that "We do not 
think this country requires a Congress-led combination and a 
BJP-led combination alone.  There are enough forces to form a 
third alternative."  He maintained that an LF led Front would 
provide a "more stable viable alternative," as it would not 
just be an electoral alliance but be based on a "common 
policy platform." 
 
Nice to US in Person - Otherwise Very Tough 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C) In a May 4 meeting with the Charge (reftel), Karat 
was conciliatory, but his wrap-up article of the CPI(M) 
congress in the party newspaper "People's Democracy," was 
confrontational.  Decrying Congress as a "bourgeois-landlord" 
party, Karat maintained that the CPI(M) will unite the Left 
parties, project a "democratic alternative," and strengthen 
the Left in Parliament. 
 
7.  (U) Claiming that "US imperialism is continuing its 
offensive," Karat accused the US of "violating the 
sovereignty of independent nations in its quest for total 
hegemony."  Stating that the US "is prepared to utilize its 
military might to make countries fall in line," Karat cited 
"the occupation of Iraq," threats against North Korea, Iran 
and Syria, "covert work against the Venezuelan government," 
and "hostile measures against Cuba," as evidence of US 
aggression. 
 
8.  (U) Karat listed the Left's principal goals as "advancing 
the struggle against communalism, pro-big business economic 
policies and imperialism."  Urging Communists not to 
underestimate the power of the BJP and RSS to regroup 
following their recent "defeats," he questioned the ability 
of Congress to "carry out a consistent struggle against 
communal and divisive forces," and called on "the Left and 
other democratic and secular parties" to devise a joint 
program to come to power in New Delhi. 
 
9.  (U) Karat criticized the BJP/NDA for "facilitating" the 
growth of imperialism, "particularly US influence in India's 
domestic, economic, political and foreign policy affairs." 
Although there has been "a shift in emphasis," since the BJP 
defeat, Congress continues to "pursue policies of 
liberalization" and "the strategic collaboration with the US 
and its deep inroads remain."  He noted that the CPI(M) has 
resolved to focus on India's countryside and rural economy, 
and social issues including the rights of dalits, tribals, 
religious minorities and women. 
 
Other Communist Views 
--------------------- 
 
10.  (C) In recent meetings with Poloff, other Communist 
leaders were not as united as their public facade suggests. 
Decrying the Communist Party of India (CPI) as "not genuinely 
Marxist," Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Abani 
Roy criticized the party as "opportunistic, too close to 
Congress, and too willing to compromise for power."  Roy was 
also suspicious of plans to expand into the "Hindi Belt," 
urging Left parties not to subordinate their interests to 
regional parties to gain influence, and saying that Leftists 
must remain "true to their principles."  Praising Karat as a 
"genuine Marxist," Roy predicted that he would present a 
moderate face only as a tactic to gain power and "institute 
Marxism." 
 
11.  (C) CPI Secretary D Rajan emphasized the need for "left 
unity," to construct a united movement that would include the 
Maoists.  Noting that Maoists must first renounce violence 
and embrace parliamentary democracy, he predicted that the 
CPI and CPI(M) would unite, before making overtures to the 
Maoist Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), with the 
ultimate goal of creating a united Communist movement. 
 
12.  (C) CPI MP S Sudhakra Reddy emphasized that Congress did 
not do enough to combat secularism, pointing out that the CPI 
supported the US revocation of Gujarat Chief Minister Modi's 
visa, while the "left of center" Congress defended the 
"right-wing" Modi in Parliament.  Reddy accused Congress of 
"ignoring Left analysis" on FDI in key sectors such as 
insurance and telecommunication, and failing to "regulate 
multi-national corporations (MNCs).  He emphasized that the 
Left is determined to "defend the public sector" and accused 
Congress of reneging on agreements to reopen "sick units." 
Reddy emphasized that the Indian Left favored a Nehru-style 
mixed economy and did not advocate total nationalization. 
The CPI is not opposed to privatization, but would not allow 
MNCs and Indian capitalists "a blank check," in contrast to 
Congress, which was even pushing privatization of essential 
public services such as transport, he stated. 
 
13.  (C) Reddy dismissed talk of recruiting the Maoists into 
a united Communist movement, pointing out that they are bent 
on taking over Nepal and carving out a corridor between north 
India and Nepal.  In his home state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), 
the Maoists murder Communists, as they "cannot come to power 
as long as there are cadres waving the red flag in 
Parliament," he stated. 
 
14.  (C) Reddy acknowledged that India and the US have grown 
closer, that these ties will be "permanent," and that the 
Left parties "applaud" this trend.  He claimed, however, that 
the US has yet to convince most Indians that it is 
"pro-India."  It must first shed its cold war baggage, and 
learn to treat India as and "equal partner" rather than "a 
market for US goods."  In AP, the CPI has grown by 25 percent 
to 96,000 members in the past year, with most new members 
under 45 and coming from rural areas.  He lamented that the 
CPI would not have the same success in the "Hindi belt," 
where caste-based regional parties have marginalized all the 
national parties. 
 
15.  (C) Forward Bloc leader G Devarajan predicted that an 
energized Left would maintain labor agitation in urban areas, 
including strikes against electricity rate hikes, and 
increased FDI in the banking sector, while expanding its 
activities into the rural sector.  He claimed that a 
coalition of CPI, CPI(M), and CPI(ML) activists would launch 
a "mass education" campaign to forcibly occupy land in Bihar 
and distribute it to landless laborers, as a first step in 
planned expansion into Bihar, Jharkhand, and AP.  Devarajan 
praised the election of Karat, saying that it would "change 
attitudes" and lead to a "more aggressive" left movement in 
India. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
16.  (C) The past 12 months have been historic for India's 
Communist parties.  They have gained unprecedented influence 
by becoming the "kingmakers" whose continued support keeps 
the UPA government in power, and passed leadership to a 
younger and more dynamic generation.  They have also devised 
an ambitious expansion program and begun to dream of the day 
they can end their relationship with Congress and play an 
independent role in Indian politics.  Karat enjoys widespread 
support within the Left and plans to energize the Communists 
to support a revamped agenda that will go beyond the 
traditional concerns of urban industrial workers.  Under 
Karat, the Left will try to take up caste concerns currently 
monopolized by regional parties, move into territory 
currently occupied by the Maoists and mobilize the rural 
underclass (landless peasants, dalits, tribals) who have been 
largely left out of India's economic boom.  The end goal is 
to fashion a Communist-dominated alliance capable of 
supplanting regional and Maoist parties and coming to power 
in New Delhi. 
 
15.  (C)  Under Karat, the Left will also adopt a more modern 
focus against "globalization and liberalization."  Far less 
parochial than India's traditional Communist leaders, Karat 
wants to place India's Communists in an international context 
by joining hands with  "anti-globalization" movements in 
Latin America and South Asia.  Despite his professed 
willingness to work with the US, Karat views Washington as 
the principal architect and anchor of a global system that 
works against Indian interests.  In his view, confrontation 
between the US and an ascendant Left, while not imminent, is 
therefore inevitable.  The ability of the Communist to 
carry-out their agenda will become clear in 2006, when they 
contest elections in their strongholds of Kerala and West 
Bengal. 
BLAKE