New Delhi: The CPI(M) on Tuesday said it will make all efforts to further strengthen the INDIA bloc after the JD(U)’s exit, even as it slammed the Congress in Kerala for making “baseless allegations” against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
In a statement issued after its January 28-30 central committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, the CPI(M) said the focus of the opposition bloc at present is on concluding the seat-sharing talks.
The CPI(M) also credited the recent victories of the BJP in the state polls to consolidation of the “Hindutva” votes, combined with “exploitation of caste sentiments”, and called for confronting it. Soft Hindutva and “pale saffron positions” only lead to further strengthening the hold of Hindutva, it said.
Commenting on the INDIA bloc after the exit of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), the CPI(M) Central Committee said, “Despite the JD(U) deserting the INDIA bloc and collaborating with the BJP, the CPI(M) will make all efforts to further strengthen this formation and continue the activities to defeat the BJP in order to safeguard the secular democratic character of our Constitutional Republic.”
“The focus is to complete the ongoing state-level talks on seat-sharing between its constituents at the earliest and then proceed to reach out to the people on the basis of core issues that are aimed at improving their livelihoods and defending Constitutional values,” they said.
However, while talking about Kerala, CPI(M) accused the Congress in the state of adopting a “negative and anti-democratic approach to the LDF government and making baseless allegations against the chief minister”.
“It (Congress) keeps silent on the Centre’s assault on the rights of Kerala which helps the BJP in its maneuvers against the state government. The people of Kerala will reject this disruptive approach of the Congress party,” they said.
Accusing the BJP of misusing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against opposition leaders, the CPI(M) said the ruling party at the Centre appeared to be unsure about the outcome of the 2024 elections despite its blatant misuse of religious sentiments generated centering around Ayodhya.
“The BJP has resorted to brazen and aggressive misuse of the ED and money power to engineer defections among the opposition parties ruling in states and forging alliances with former rivals hoping to improve its Lok Sabha electoral prospects,” the CPI(M) said.
“It has done this earlier in Maharashtra, later in Karnataka. And now in Bihar, the JD(U) has set an inglorious record of the largest number of flip-flops. Nitish Kumar was sworn-in for a record ninth time as the CM of Bihar, this time with the BJP’s support. The people in these states who had defeated the BJP will teach such turncoats a lesson,” they said.
On the recent assembly polls in which the BJP won Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while the Congress won in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana, the CPI(M) said, “The BJP’s victories were mainly due to the consolidation of the Hindutva communal vote combined with a pernicious exploitation of caste sentiments.”
“Hindutva communal consolidation must be confronted in a forthright manner. The recourse to competitive soft Hindutva and pale saffron positions only lead to further strengthening the hold of Hindutva on significant sections of the people. This provides the RSS/BJP and all other Hindutva outfits the opportunity for further communalising the society and targeting the minorities,” the party said.
The Left Party also attacked Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and said he is “unfit for the post”.
“The Kerala governor has over-stepped all boundaries with his constant political attacks on the elected state government and his grossly erratic behaviour,” the CPI(M) said.
“In an unprecedented fashion he sought and procured protection from the central security forces with the highest permissible security cover for himself. His statements like ‘beginning of the collapse of the Constitutional machinery’ are threats levelled against the state government which will be rejected outright by the people of the state,” the Left Party said.
