Communists never hide their flaws: Brinda Karat

Brinda Karat speaks on the position of women in Indian politics in a chat with Zee News’ Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janab.

In an exclusive chat with Zee News’ Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janab, CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat spoke on the position of women in Indian politics, her 20 years in the political arena, and on the feudal and chauvinistic mentality that is coming in the way of the passing of Women’s Reservation Bill.Swati Chaturvedi: You have always spoken about the common man. Even Congress has done so, but has the common man stopped listening to the voice of your party and hence the mandate in the recent LS polls?

Brinda Karat: It is true that we have suffered serious losses in the recent polls. Our party has indeed suffered setbacks in West Bengal and Kerala, which have been our strongholds. We are actually pondering over the reasons that led to our failure in the Lok Sabha polls. Swati: Your victory in the last elections was a historic, unprecedented mandate. What went wrong? Was it because of Kerala? Brinda: As far as public mandate is concerned, in the last polls three-fourth of our MPs came from areas that were opposed to Congress. Hence, at that time our mandate was anti-Congress. But because of our intense desire to form a secular govt, we supported the Congress from outside. So, before mentioning the Lavalin case, you should have a look at the CBI papers which have practically no charges that would frame Vijayan. Swati: Does Kerala example prove that proximity with the Congress has corrupted the Left? Should Kerala Chief Minister be changed to alter the perception of the people about the party? Brinda:There is no question of changing the Chief Minister. We believe in collective responsibility. We will go to the root of the reasons that led to our failure. Swati: Do you think the mandate would further affect people’s opinion about the party? Brinda:Our main aim - as has always been – is the benefit of the poor and at this level, if we suffer from any weakness we would try to absolve it. The special thing about the Communist Party that distinguishes it from others is that it does not hide its flaws. Swati: Do you think (as a Politburo member) Prakash Karat took a wrong decision on nuclear deal? Brinda:As far as pulling the support back from the government is concerned, it was a collective decision of the party and we had looked into its pros and cons before deciding upon it. Swati: You have been in politics for almost 20 years. Do you think as a woman that the bitter opposition to the Women’s Reservation Bill reflects a particular mindset? Brinda:The opposition to the Bill has been there from the past 14 years. Those who are against it have their own reasons. But it is the Congress and the BJP who have used this opposition to fulfil their vested interests. This time when the government promised that it would get the Bill passed within a timeframe of 100 days, was it not aware that the opposition to the bill existed even then? Swati: Those who oppose the Bill say that it will benefit only a handful of women and it would be those who already have a family member in the politics. Do you agree? Brinda:The people who promote their families would continue to do so. So why should women suffer because of it. This will go on and there is no harm if women benefit from it. Swati: Sharad Yadav claims to be your friend and he is fighting the Bill tooth and nail. What do you have to say about it? Brinda:He is a very senior leader and he should understand that this has now become necessary. Our voice against the caste system is also against male dominance within the system. Swati: Do you think quota within quota will be of some help? Brinda:We communists don’t support caste system but you will see that the states where OBC male legislators are in maximum numbers, there the number of women legislators of the same caste is also very high. So what’s wrong if it’s the women who benefit more? Swati: A very senior leader said that all women in politics are puppets. How do you feel when such barbs are thrown at the fairer sex? Brinda:This reflects a very low mentality. It shows that despite all the talks of development, we still live in a male-dominated society. Swati: Many people say that Brinda Karat should have been given a place in Politburo long ago. And also, she got too little and too late? Brinda:The central committee of our party has realised that from the lowest to the top - at every level - a feudal mentality works. Suppose we take Marx’s slogan, we say “Workers of the world unite”; we don’t say “Male workers of the world unite”. If the same position is not given to the women workers of the party, it will weaken the party. Adaptation: Smita Mishra