THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - April 24, 2018 - Topic 1

Uniting line: on CPI(M)'s political resolution

By adopting a political resolution acceptable to both the majority and minority sections, the 22nd party congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) averted a divisive contest for the post of the general secretary and gave a fresh term to the incumbent, Sitaram Yechury. In its essence, the political line was not very different from the draft political resolution backed by the majority section led by former general secretary Prakash Karat, but it was sufficiently vague to give some manoeuvring room to the beleaguered Mr. Yechury. 

The clause of contention related to allying with the Congress to defeat the BJP — with the majority Karat line, backed by most of the Kerala unit, against it, and the minority Yechury line, supported by most of the West Bengal unit, for it. The compromise involved replacing the phrase “without having an understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress party” with “without having a political alliance with the Congress party”. The end-result allowed both sides to claim victory. For the Karat side, ruling out a political alliance meant ruling out an electoral alliance; for the Yechury side, the withdrawal of the specific bar on understanding and electoral alliance with the Congress opened up the possibility of taking such a course. For those not used to the intense debates in Communist parties this might seem more like word-play than sword-fight. But the differences are rooted not only in a theoretical understanding of the threat posed by the BJP, whether it is communal authoritarianism or fascism, but also in the practical difficulty of fighting the Congress in Kerala and allying with it elsewhere. If fascism were the only concern for the West Bengal unit, an alliance with the Trinamool Congress should have been just as viable.

However, reducing its whole politics to the question of allying with the Congress would have been a serious mistake for the CPI(M), which built its support base first on the back of working class struggles, and later in opposition to the growing threat from neo-liberalism, represented in equal measure by the BJP and the Congress. The political line, in any case, allows for an understanding with all secular opposition parties, including the Congress, on agreed issues inside Parliament, and a broad mobilisation of people against communalism. The happy compromise allowed Mr. Yechury a second term, leaving the question of whether the unity on theory will hold in practice to be answered at the time of a general election in West Bengal. True, the current political line does not prohibit the CPI(M) from having seat adjustments or a post-poll understanding with the Congress. But not even an imaginative reading of the resolution can allow for the type of alliance the two parties had in West Bengal in 2016.

Vocabulary

Resolution: a firm decision to do or not to do something.

Example: She kept her resolution not to see Anne any more

Synonyms: intention, resolve, decision, intent, aim, plan, commitment

Divisive: tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people.

Example: The highly divisive issue of abortion

Synonyms: alienating, estranging, isolating, schismatic

Essence: the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.

Example: Conflict is the essence of drama

Synonyms: quintessence, soul, spirit, nature, core, heart, crux, nucleus, substance

Vague: of uncertain, indefinite, or unclear character or meaning.

Example: Many patients suffer vague symptoms

Synonyms: indistinct, indefinite, indeterminate, unclear, hazy, fuzzy

Contention: heated disagreement.

Example: The captured territory was one of the main areas of contention between the two countries

Synonyms: disagreement, dispute, disputation, argument, discord, conflict

Alliance: a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations.

Example: A defensive alliance between Australia and New Zealand

Synonyms: association, union, league, confederation, federation, confederacy

Threat: a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done.

Example: Members of her family have received death threats

Synonyms: threatening remark, warning, ultimatum

Viable: capable of working successfully; feasible.

Example: The proposed investment was economically viable

Synonyms: feasible, workable, practicable, practical, usable, possible

Prohibit: formally forbid (something) by law, rule, or other authority.

Example: Laws prohibiting cruelty to animals

Synonyms: forbid, ban, bar, interdict, proscribe, make illegal, embargo

Imaginative: having or showing creativity or inventiveness.

Example: Making imaginative use of computer software

Synonyms: creative, visionary, inspired, inventive, resourceful, ingenious