Abhijit
The much hyped about Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, has concluded. Rahul Gandhi has indeed proved his physical fitness and endurance by walking more than 3000 km, and also achieved an image makeover with this feat. The liberals are gung ho about this feat and are dreaming of a turn-around in Indian politics, and many even talking about a serious challenge to fascism. False hopes are also being created in the minds of the working class and the working masses about a new regime led by the Congress party. Despite all the pomp, and shine, and glitter around the Yatra, it must not be forgotten that the roots of the Congress party remain deeply buried in the politics of neo-liberalism and in the service of the bourgeoisie. Given the state of economic crisis, and the need of the bourgeoisie to steer the ship of capitalism through these turbulent waters, any hopes of even a more liberal India under the Congress party are just a mirage. To understood this, one must look at the class character of the Yatra, and the politics projected by the Yatra.
A Capital-sponsored Spectacle
Let’s begin with the less significant issues first. Bharat Jodo Yatra was not a people’s movement, not a yatra organized through efforts and contributions from common people, but a spectacle sponsored by a faction of the capitalist class. The comfortable yatra has planning of portable tents, containers, vehicles, electricity, sewerage, drinking water for nearly 250 people. The stay of all covered nearly 2 acres of place. A vanity van was arranged for Rahul Gandhi which had the facility of toilet, bathroom, kitchen, AC, fridge, LCD, sofa, etc. There were 6 teams for cooking food for nearly 2000 people. The people were carried in a cavalcade of nearly 60 container-rooms. Nearly 100 people were full-time employed for professional management of the yatra. The yatra was promoted by employing professional agencies, who employed techniques from drones to modern cameras and publishing content every-day. This was an expense of hundreds of crores of rupees, which was obviously financed by the corporates backing Congress. It is clear that the capitalist class financed the yatra, because it does indeed intend to keep the non-BJP option of Congress alive and open, in the game of bourgeois political elections. This is how bourgeoisie as a political class functions. Even though the majority of the big capitalists are overwhelmingly supporting Modi and BJP right now, they are also aware of the problems that the fascist regime might face and in some sense is facing. Therefore, they also creating counter-balancing mechanism or a counter-weight, which can be used in the time of need. It was not surprising therefore that the yatra got the required funds from a variety of sources.
However, one cannot judge the yatra simply on the basis of its funding, but an analysis of the politics and ideology that it represented is imperative. We will undertake this task in all modesty in this political note.
Converting the Already Converted
The yatra claimed to be against “hatred” and creating “love” in the hearts of those who have succumbed to propaganda of hatred. However, the yatra attracted only those people who were already fed up with the rule of BJP, and the politics of the Sangh Parivar, namely the liberals, the petty-bourgeois, intellectuals, the social-democratic activists from all over the country, and a small section of students and youth. It is true that some sections of working masses also joined the yatra who are against the BJP and the current fascist dispensation. Ever since the rise of fascist BJP in 2014, this section of the population has been filled with a sense of defeatism, and the yatra attracted them. A section of farmers, workers and unemployed youth also participated in the yatra, under the influence of the propaganda about the yatra and in the hope that the yatra might be a first step towards building an alternative to Modi regime. Many like college teachers and students also participated because the congress leaders running these institutions compelled them, but many also participated due to their own petty-bourgeois class character which circumscribes within the limits posed by bourgeois democracy and even in fight against fascism, they are unable to transcend those limits.
However the basic reality today is that the Sangh Parivar does command the support of nearly 20-30 percent of the population, repeatedly expressed through the ballot box and in the numerical strength of the cadre of the Sangh Parivar, who engage daily in the spread of “hatred”, that is fascist propaganda. The real question, that should therefore be asked is, how many of the supporters of the present fascist regime participated in the yatra or had a moment of epiphany due to the yatra and consequently joined it? The answer is negligible. The yatra united only a subsection of those people who were already against the politics of “hate” and not many people who are under the sway of fascist politics and ideology. At most, it can be credited with uniting the scattered opposition among the masses to BJP politics, partially. May be, in the second proposed round of the yatra it might succeed in uniting even more scattered opposition. As an exceptional conjuncture, an event, the 2024 election might witness significant decline in number of seats of the BJP and even its ouster from power by some coalition government led by the Congress or supported by the Congress. Even if that happens, which seems highly unlikely at the moment, what can the working masses expect?Would that be the decisive defeat of fascism in India? The answer to the second question is a resounding no as the history itself has shown. The answer to the first question can be deciphered only by a closer look at the politics and ideology that was being projected by the yatra.
Congress: Going Strong with Neoliberalism
Much hype was created about the problems of unemployment, farmers issues, and inflation during the yatra. All these problems are results of the larger systemic crisis of capitalism, which has grown with the implementation of the neoliberal policies all over the world, which themselves were reactionary response to the preceding period of crisis. It was the Congress party that brought the policies of Globalization, Privatization and Liberalization (GPL) to the country on behalf of the big bourgeoisie of India, and it still wishes to continue these neoliberal policies that have intensified these problems. This is evident from the positions taken by the Party during the Yatra itself.
The propaganda launched by Congress that only 2-3 big capitalists are benefiting during the rule of BJP is a plain lie. A capitalist state, and hence a government in a capitalist state, represents the long-term collective class interests of the capitalist class, and not a small minority of it. In reality, its not only the Adanis and Ambanis, but all the big capitalists including Tatas, Birlas, Bajajs, Firodiyas, Nadars, Jindals, Sanghvis, Kirloskars, Poonawalas, Kotaks, Godrej, Premjis, etc. which include many dollar billionnaires, have grown their wealth during the BJP rule. Its not without reason, that all of the big bourgeoisie have been funding the BJP all these years, making it one of the richest parties. Its true that BJP is the most favored party of the big bourgeoisie, however Congress is still their trusted party and they have kept funding it all the time, though it is right now negligible compared to the funds given to the BJP.
And despite of all its false propaganda, the Congress party itself is very closely associated with the house of Ambanis and Adanis as well. It was during the yatra itself that Gautam Adani appeared on a stage with the Congress chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot and Rahul Gandhi publicly commented asking how can a Chief Minister reject offer of investment of Rs. 60,000 crores? He also reminded everyone that it was the Congress that started the process of liberalization, so how can the Congress be against it? This clearly shows that the whole talk about Adani-Ambani is nothing but a jumla for the Congress. All talk is centred on cronyism, of which the BJP is certainly guilty, but only little more than the Congress.
The most important of these revelations can be seen in the interview that Rahul Gandhi did with ex-RBI governor, and a darling of the big capitalist class, Mr. Raghuram Rajan. In this interview, despite all the attempted jugglery of words, Rajan and Rahul Gandhi can not hide the fact that they remain in support of increasing the pace of reforms, that is liberalization. Raghuam Rajan tries to confuse the people about his support for the big capitalists by saying “We can’t be against capitalism, but we can be against monopoly”, while at the same time saying that we need big and small businesses both! As if the monopolies are any different from the big businesses for the working masses! Further he argues for a ‘second green revolution’ by promoting food processing, cold storage chain, fruit and vegetables exports, thus clearly indicating their support for the big agricultural bourgeoisie which is the only true beneficiary of liberalization in agriculture. While trying to attract the “small and medium businesses” towards the Congress, both of them try to lure them by offering more loans, and facilities to grow to be a big business, however, Raghuram Rajan cannot hide the real change they want to bring in when he admits that the small firms in India are stuck at 10-20 employees because after that the regulations, that is regulations related to protection of workers, kick in! This clearly shows that the Congress is offering the carrot of further anti-labour laws and policies to the small and big capitalists both. Further, Rahul Gandhi clearly admits that the government cannot offer jobs to everyone, and only the private sector which is given incentives by the government, can really create jobs. How this private sector has created jobs in the last 30 years after the beginning of the neoliberal policy by the Congress government is before everyone. How much wealth has trickled down from the top rich to the bottom poor is also evident. It is clear Rahul Gandhi offers no major policy shift as far as the economy is concerned. The same neoliberal policies will continue if the Congress government comes, may be with some counter-balancing mechanisms and welfarist tokenism.
Congress: Still a Trusted Party of the Bourgeoisie
Congress has been a trusted party of the bourgeoisie from the era before independence. It has served their interests from the period of Nehruvian policies to the era of Neo-liberalism. However it is trying to portray its image as a relatively more welfarist party compared to the BJP, which is nothing but a ploy to attract more votes of the working class and common working masses.
The working class and common working masses must understand that the Congress party is a party of the capitalist class, itself funded by the big bourgeoisie. All its promises of development, against the rule of the BJP, are in fact promises to the capitalist class that the Congress can implement the policies of neoliberalism, much better than the BJP, with ensuring domestic peace and in a much more hegemonic way. The real purpose of the yatra is to convince the working masses, that the interests of the big bourgeoisie are their interests too. The problem is simply cronyism, hatred, communalism, etc. What it hides is that these problems are products of the same capitalism system, especially in its neoliberal phase, that the Congress so vehemently supports. There is nothing for the working class to expect from the declarations made during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and it should not fall prey to any kind of false optimism. The only alternative before us is to rely on our own forces, organize them, win over the masses and establish the hegemony of the proletarian political line. Tailending this or that bourgeois force in the hope to dethrone Modi from power, and to mistake this dethroning with the decisive defeat of fascism, would be suicidal for revolutionary communist forces. Today, this statement has become more relevant than ever: ‘Those who don’t want to speak about capitalism should also keep quiet about fascism.’
