Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Tuesday said that the independent strength of the party and the Left needs to be enhanced manifold to take on its ideological adversary RSS and the BJP.

He said that a broad arrangement needs to be nurtured in this political fight.

“If we need to successfully develop this political arrangement of broadest maximum political cooperation of secular, democratic and progressive forces,… the independent strength of CPI(M) and the Left have to be enhanced manifold,” Baby said, participating in a discussion to mark the 156th birthday of V I Lenin.

Noting that the CPI(M)’s political and tactical line was evolved in the Madurai party congress in March, he said the call was to harness the party’s strength and energy to fight against the “RSS-led government in Delhi and different provinces”.

He said that this is imperative in the background of setbacks in different places for the CPI(M) and the Left.

“We have to take up problems of various sections of people and we have to mobilise them in struggles,” the CPI(M) leader said.

Claiming that all-India movements need to be launched by the Left parties, he urged party workers to make an all-India strike called by trade unions on May 20 a success.

Baby said that Lenin used to stress on the proper training of cadres, not just bookish knowledge, but developing them by giving them opportunities to participate in class struggles.

“West Bengal used to be referred to as the advanced outpost of the working class movement in the country,” he said.

Admitting that there was a decline in the electoral fortunes of the party in the country, Baby claimed that the CPI(M) is consciously and systematically trying to deal with the setbacks.

“With full confidence and significant inputs about what is happening in different parts of our country, particularly in West Bengal, we can be very confident that the…..democratic movement in West Bengal is on the right path,” he said.

Terming artificial intelligence as one of the most significant technological innovations of modern times, the CPI(M) leader said that it has the ability to “rapidly alter both labour and the labourer.” “At such a juncture, it is essential that we stand for its use in such a way that human progress and social transformation can be achieved,” Baby said.

“While highlighting the disruption it can cause to human livelihoods, it is also imperative that we acknowledge its transformative potential in human lives,” he said. PTI AMR BDC