Noted political analyst D.V.V.S Varma has exhorted all democratic and secular forces to unite and fight against the ‘‘divisive politics’‘ of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.
On Manipur violence
“Manipur is burning due to the divisive politics played by the BJP and its governments at the Centre and the State. The saffron party is aggravating the age-old ethnic tensions in that northeastern State for political gains”D.V.V.S VarmaPolitical analyst
Speaking at a round-table conference organised by a civil society organisation Asra, here on Tuesday, he contended that ‘‘Manipur is burning due to the divisive politics played by the BJP and its governments at the Centre and the State. The saffron party is aggravating the age-old ethnic tensions in that northeastern State for political gains,’’ he charged.
The violence in the State bordering Myanmar was not an isolated one as the BJP consolidated its vote bank by actively pursuing policies of ‘‘majoritarianism and crony capitalism’‘ across the country, he claimed, adding that the eying on Manipur’s mineral wealth was a root cause for the unrest in that State. The abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution providing special status to that State was aimed at opening the State economy to ‘‘crony capitalists’‘ he claimed.
‘Need opposition to unite’
Mr. Varma underscored the need for a larger unity among the opposition parties to bring to the centre stage the sufferings of the common people in the country, including the severe unemployment problem and abnormal hike in the prices of all essential commodities under the Narendra Modi regime as the threat of ‘‘fascism spreading its tentacles across the nation loomed largely”.
The pre-eminence of more significant issues of the common people in the States of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh during the polls led to the debacle for the saffron party there, he recalled, adding that the contradictions within the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) had to be addressed as several of its constituents were in contest with the Congress party in many regions and expanded to cover all the 543 Lok Sabha seats.
‘Peculiar situation in Andhra Pradesh’
Referring to the political scenario of Andhra Pradesh, he said the State witnessed a ‘‘peculiar situation’‘ with both the ruling YSR Congress Party and the opposition Telugu Desam Party backing the BJP in the Parliament and doing a disservice to the larger interests of the State even though the BJP-led government at the Centre failed to implement the promises made to the beleaguered State at the time of bifurcation including those on steel plant at Kadapa, pubic sector port at Dugarajapatnam and Special Category Status (SCS).
Mr. Verma was in the thick of the Communist movement before leading the Lok Satta Party as its working president until it temporarily withdrew from electoral politics.
