CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has said that Telangana was the next target of the BJP to destabilise the State government by buying MLAs of the ruling party.
After accomplishing the goal at Karnataka, the BJP had set its eyes on Telangana like it did in all States, Mr. Yechury told a media conference here on Sunday.
He called for keeping the BJP away from wielding political power and government control if India was to be saved as a secular democratic republic and protect the rights guaranteed to people under Constitution. The Indian National Lok Dal rally on the occasion of former Deputy Prime Minister Devilal’s birth anniversary on September 27 and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s meetings with non-BJP Chief Ministers were some of the initiatives to bring secular parties on a common agenda.
Mr. Yechury criticised the BJP for trying to hijack the success of the armed struggle against landlords by observing September 17 as Liberation Day against the tyranny of Nizam. The Left parties which were in the forefront of the armed struggle called it ‘Surrendered Day’
The struggle launched in 1946 for 18 months till September 17, 1948 weakened the administration of Nizam internally. The Operation Polo by Indian Army in just 109 hours was a culmination of the struggle.
Mr. Yechury also said the army remained in Telangana till 1951 to ensure that the status of landlords was restored. It was feared that the Communists will emerge as the ruling party if the army withdrew after Nizam’s surrender. The same was mentioned in a document of US intelligence agency CIA.
The predominant role of Left parties in the struggle could be seen from a list of political prisoners in Hyderabad State which was released on March 3, 1950. It mentioned that there were 4,482 Communists and only 57 Razakars in prisons.
He accused the BJP of trying to rewrite history by linking the role of RSS in the ouster of Nizam. In fact, the RSS was a banned organisation and its activists were in jail when the surrender of Nizam took place. The BJP ran this type of campaign to whip up communal tensions.
On electoral politics, he said the CPI (M) was in favour of State-wise alliances with other parties and a broader tie up at the national level depending on the position in States. But, this was not possible in Kerala where there was a polarisation between LDF and UDF.
