CPI (M) Politburo member Prakash Karat on Saturday said if Narendra Modi and the BJP came back to power India, would not remain a democracy, and the upcoming Lok Sabha election would determine the future of the country.
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Speaking at a public meeting in Madurai in support of party candidate for the Lok Sabha Constituency Su. Venkatesan, he said the BJP was targeting opposition leaders in the run-up to the elections. Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren were arrested. Even as the election campaign was going on, the opposition leaders were being targeted by the Central agencies.
The BJP was not fighting the opposition in a democratic manner, but was suppressing them, Mr. Karat said, referring to the Income Tax Department freezing the Congress’ bank accounts and serving notices on the party. In Kerala, the IT Department had frozen the CPI(M)’s bank account in Thrissur district, he said, adding that the BJP was trying to cripple the opposition through Central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the IT Department.
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“The opposition leaders were suspended for speaking against the BJP in Parliament. Even mediapersons and civil rights activists have been put behind bars. Institutes that track democratic freedoms worldwide have criticised it,” he said.
The BJP and Mr. Modi in their election campaign were projecting Ayodhya Ram temple as an achievement. It was a State-sponsored function, but Mr. Modi acted like a ‘purohit’. The BJP had criticised the opposition for not joining the event. Opposition leaders rejected it because it was a political project — mixing religion and politics for communal agenda.
The BJP was trying to abandon the Constitution and trying to implement Manuvadi ideology with a vision to turn India into a ‘Hindutva Rastra’.
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Mr Modi and the BJP were calling INDIA bloc an alliance of corrupt parties. The electoral bonds issue showed that the BJP was the most corrupt party. It introduced the scheme by amending laws. The CPI (M) refused to open accounts and challenged it before the Supreme Court.
After six years, the SC held it was unconstitutional. The BJP received more that 50% of the total bonds. It had used the money to threaten people. The SC should monitor an investigation into money laundering and corruption that had taken place through electoral bonds.
This election would also determine whether India would be a Union of States and whether there would be federalism. The BJP wanted to destroy it and bring about a unitary India.
The BJP and the RSS wanted to implement one nation, one language and one culture policy. They also wanted one election. It would destroy the federal structure. They uses Governors who acted like the Viceroys. Even during floods they had not given funds to Tamil Nadu, he said.