The Fight for the Republic examines three essays by Sitaram Yechury, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]), written in response to the rise of Hindutva forces in India. The first two essays were written in the immediate aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, while the third was written following the ascension of the Modi-led BJP Government at the Centre. The volume includes an introduction by Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik, who situates Yechury’s writings within contemporary economic and political developments.
In his Introduction, Patnaik makes three interrelated arguments. First, he argues that the rise of neo-fascism around the world cannot be divorced from the economic crisis generated by neoliberalism. Second, he observes that unlike classical fascism, which could deploy fiscal deficits to create employment and thus enjoyed widespread popularity, neo-fascist forces operate under constraints imposed by global finance capital, which is fundamentally averse to deficit spending. Consequently, neo-fascist governments remain electorally vulnerable unlike classical fascism. The electoral defeats of Bolsonaro and Trump are indicative of this phenomenon. Third, Patnaik argues that because neo-fascism is inextricably linked to neoliberalism, both must be confronted simultaneously for a lasting socio-political transformation. He situates Yechury’s writings in this context and observes how Yechury underlined the necessity of economic transformation alongside political and cultural struggles.
The first chapter reproduces a pamphlet written by Yechury following the Babri Masjid demolition. In the tradition of quintessential Leftist rhetoric, it systematically dismantles the lies propagated by the Sangh Parivar in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition. Drawing parallels between Nazi Germany’s Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Sangh brigade, which he terms the ‘Saffron Shirts (SS)’, Yechury methodically counters the historical and political claims advanced by Hindutva forces. Citing extensively from both Sangh ideologues and academic scholarship, he underscores India’s heterogeneous and complex past, which the Sangh seeks to destroy. In a clever deployment of rhetoric, Yechury characterizes the Sangh’s activities as ‘anti-national’, turning their own accusations against them.
The second chapter interrogates the concept of a Hindu Rashtra through a close reading of MS Golwalkar’s writings. Yechury argues that the real political intentions of the Sangh Parivar, reflected more in their practice than in official pronouncements, are evident in Golwalkar’s original texts. He warns that implementing Golwalkar’s vision would plunge India into ‘a morass of darkness and medieval theocracy’ (p. 65). He characterizes the historical logic underpinning these ideas as fundamentally ‘lunatic’. Yechury highlights the religious, cultural, and linguistic exclusions explicit in Golwalkar’s work, which continue to inform Sangh rhetoric and praxis. He notes Golwalkar’s admiration for Hitler’s political project and, most importantly, identifies the upper-caste hegemony that the Sangh project embodies, evident both in the RSS’s origins as a reaction against radical Dalit politics in Maharashtra and in its valorization of the Manusmriti. Yechury also draws parallels between Golwalkar and Maulana Maududi, who similarly advocated theocracy, albeit Islamic in character. He concludes that the political imperative of our time is to defeat the ‘Hitler-Maududi-Golwalkar’ axis (p. 88), a struggle requiring the unity of all patriots.
In the final chapter, published in 2022 during the Modi Government’s zenith, Yechury contrasts three competing visions of India: the Sangh Parivar’s, the Congress’s, and the Communists’. While the Congress championed a secular and democratic India, the Communists advanced a more radical vision, socialist and egalitarian. Yechury emphasizes the Communists’ contribution to realizing this vision through land reforms, linguistic reorganization, and the defense of secularism. He argues that the Sangh’s vision, rooted in the concept of Hindu Rashtra, aims at the destruction of constitutional values and independent constitutional institutions while promoting irrationalism. Under an irrationalism project, unravelling reality through a scientific lens becomes impossible, facilitating the creation of an ‘exclusivist, theocratic and fascistic state’ (p. 117). To prevent this outcome, Yechury calls for a counter-hegemonic project.
Overall, Yechury’s analysis offers one of the most comprehensive examinations of the predicaments facing the Indian Republic from the benches of Indian political opposition. His Marxist training, academic background, and decades of experience as a senior CPI(M) politician have given his arguments analytical rigour and clarity. However, a significant lacuna remains regarding the question of ‘What is to be done?’. Beyond broad prescriptions and generalizations, Yechury offers limited concrete strategy for saving the Indian Republic from fascistic forces. In this regard, he is not alone. It reflects a broader predicament confronting the international Left. While international Left-Wing forces and intellectuals have sharply analysed the conjunctures enabling Right-Wing ascendancy worldwide, effective counter-strategies remain frustratingly elusive.
Balu Sunilraj teaches Political Science at NALSAR University of Law and works on comparative local politics in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with interests in caste, culture and populism.