CPI general secretary D. Raja has advised the secular and democratic forces to finalise seat-sharing agreements for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections at the earliest and be prepared to work for the defeat of the Bharatiya Jana Party (BJP) at the hustings.
Victory of the BJP for the third time will pose an imminent danger to the country and there was a need to ensure such an eventuality, he said. The CPI has initiated discussions with the DMK leadership in Tamil Nadu and the party has resolved to contest in appropriate seats across the country.
Mr. Raja was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the three-day CPI national council meeting which concluded here on Sunday. He said it was the right of the Opposition parties to question the government on its policies, but the BJP government was trying to ensure that there is no Opposition party. The elections to Lok Sabha should be utilised as an opportunity to dethrone such government with “dictatorial tendencies”.
The CPI was gearing up for the ensuing elections and the party had directed the state leaderships from Manipur to Maharashtra and from Tamil Nadu to Bihar to finalise their seat-sharing agreements with like-minded secular parties soon. Efforts were on to prepare a common manifesto for INDIA (Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance) and the CPI had appointed a committee to prepare the party’s manifesto for the coming elections.
Terming the vote on account budget introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament as disappointing, he said unemployment was on the rise in the country and at the same time, spiralling rise in the prices of essentials had become a cause of concern for the common man. The BJP, on its part, was banking on the Ayodhya issue for political gains and the party had decided to confer Bharat Ratna to L.K. Advani who was allegedly behind the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Mr. Raja expressed solidarity with the strike proposed by workers unions and Kisan Samyukta Morcha on February 16 and said the party was in support of the demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.
He said the results of the recent elections in five States should come as a lesson to the partners of INDIA as the parties could not reach an understanding on seat-sharing in these States. The Congress, he said, should trust the other parties of the alliance and work in coordination with them to defeat the BJP. To a question, he said people would teach a fitting lesson to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who had betrayed the alliance.
