CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said the only forces that can block Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s ascent to New Delhi through the next Lok Sabha election are the non-Congress secular parties which are unbeatable for the Congress or the BJP in several States.
Inaugurating a seminar on “the direction in which Indian politics is moving,’ organised in connection with the birth centenary of the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, by the AKG Centre for Research and Studies here on Wednesday, Mr. Karat said the unity of such forces would have to be forged on a common platform for ‘the unity of the people against communalism.’
He said the rise of Mr. Modi as the BJP’s prime minister candidate was a signal of the RSS going all out to cause communal polarisation in the country. This was already becoming evident in some parts of the country, he said, referring to the riots in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
He said the Congress and the BJP were guided by the same neoliberal economic policies and loyalty to the powerful corporate entities. The United Progressive Alliance stood discredited before the people of the country with corruption getting institutionalised and the country falling into a condition of stagflation.
Mr. Karat said the Left and the non-Congress, non-BJP parties, could broad base their unity on their shared concerns relating to landlessness, public health, public education and Centre-State relations.
