The constituents of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will sit together and plan their future course of action after the results of the recently-held Assembly elections in five states are declared, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, said in Coimbatore on Friday, December 1, 2023.
“It was a closely-contested election and therefore it was not an easy run for the BJP and Prime Minister Modi despite the hectic campaign by the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the entire Cabinet,” he said.
Issues that will reflect in the election include the unemployment rates which are high, and the fact that last year, more than 40,000 corporates went out of the Income Tax net, he said, adding that the net Foreign Direct Investment inflows between April and September this year compared with the same period last year, were down 77 %.
The need and desire for a better government for the sake of safeguarding India as declared by the Constitution would be the pre-eminent issue in the Parliamentary elections to be held next year, he said. People are deciding, and it was their pressure that pushed all the Opposition parties to come together. There is a growing discontent among the people. The CPI (M) is committed to further strengthening the INDIA bloc, Mr. Yechury said said.
In the elections to the UNESCO executive, the Asian representative chosen was Pakistan with 38 votes while India got only 18 votes. “If we are leaders of the global south, why is this happening ? This must be answered,” he pointed out
Further, the recent allegation by the U.S. (linking an Indian official to the plot to kill Khalistan separatists), with a case filed in the U.S. court with evidence and the naming of people: this was something the Modi government had to come clean about, to Indians and the world, he said.
At the I.N.D.I.A. bloc meetings, it was decided that all the issues of seat adjustments would be State-specific, Mr. Yechury added. On the caste census, he said. “We want a caste census to be done along with the general census. It is long overdue.”
CPI (M) State Secretary K. Balakrishnan challenged BJP State president K. Annamalai to an open debate on which party had contributed more for the growth of Tamil Nadu: the BJP or the Communist parties. The AIADMK always functioned as the “B” team of the BJP and even recently had walked out of the House when 10 bills were passed again in a special session, he recalled.
The CPI (M) had taken up with the government, the power issue faced by the MSMEs and it would continue to do so, he added.
