Constitution is at risk of being rewritten if BJP wins a third term, says CPI leader

The two main parties in Andhra Pradesh — YSRCP and TDP — are vying with each other to please the saffron party, ignoring the ‘injustice’ meted out by the Centre to the State, says K. Ramakrishna

There is a danger of the Constitution being rewritten and democracy being jeopardised if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forms the government at the Centre for the third consecutive time, Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary K. Ramakrishna said at a press conference here on Thursday.

Referring to The Hindu CSDS-Lokniti 2024 pre-poll survey (the first part of which appeared as a banner article in The Hindu front page on Thursday), Mr. Ramakrishna said that the results point out that 62% of those surveyed have opined that getting jobs has become more difficult in the last 10 years. “The survey also pointed out that getting a job was more difficult in cities, with 65% vouching for this. The figures disprove the claims of the Modi government of having generated lakhs of jobs,” the CPI leader said.

The survey also pointed to the fact that the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed with 71% of the respondents saying that prices have increased. Mr. Ramakrishna wondered as to what were the achievements of the Modi government during the last 10 years. “There has been no reduction in the prices of essential commodities, no employment generation, farmers are on the agitation path and the promise of bringing black money, stashed away in Swiss banks, back to India, has not been fulfilled,” he said.

The CPI State secretary also alleged that the Modi government was using Central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax (I-T) Department to target Opposition leaders. He also alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was jailed as he declined to sever his ties with the Congress party. The Prime Minister is targeting the Opposition in a bid to muzzle them, he alleged.

Referring to regional parties, Mr. Ramakrishna said that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were vying with one another to please the BJP, conveniently ignoring the injustice the Centre has done to Andhra Pradesh by not according it Special Category Status (SCS), insisting on strategic sale of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), and trying to pass the buck on to the State government for the Centre’s failure to operationalise the Visakhapatnam-headquartered South Coast Railway (SCoR).

“TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu, who had cried hoarse that Mr. Modi had done injustice to A.P., is now supporting him. Regional parties should realise that if the BJP is returned to power in the Centre, the day will not be far off when they would have to shut shop,” Mr. Ramakrishna said.

CPI State assistant secretary J.V.S.N. Murthy, CPI Visakhapatnam West Assembly constituency nominee Attili Vimala and CPI district secretary M. Pydiraju were present.