Failure of the successive Congress governments to adequately address the polarising and divisive forces has led to the resurgence of fundamentalists, CPI (M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury has said.
The faulty policies followed by the Congress had led to the fundamentalist and polarising forces taking root in the Indian polity, he said on Sunday. He spoke to The Hindu while on a walk on the Beach Road here to canvas support for the CPI (M) All India conclave scheduled to be conducted in the city in April.
“The Left parties alone offer a credible political alternative to the people. Owing to many factors, the Left parties are in a dismal situation as far as electoral democracy is concerned. There is a need to do a lot of soul searching to find an answer.”
Dig at Modi It was unfortunate that the people today have voted to power a government that was extremely intolerant of dissent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi terming Aravind Kejriwal an anarchist reflects such an attitude. Mr. Modi should learn from the experience of intolerant leaders like former prime minister Indira Gandhi and former president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksha who considered themselves invincible and were routed in elections, Mr. Yechury said.
He also flayed the NDA Government for taking the Ordinance route for pushing through anti-people agenda like FDI in the insurance sector. “Ordinances have to be issued when the subject is of urgent nature and there is a general consensus on its passing, for instance a Supreme Court directive on demolishing of irregular slums by December 31 forced the government to pass an Ordinance to put off the deadline in view of the extreme cold conditions in North India. There is no justification for passing an Ordinance on land acquisition and or hiking the FDI in insurance companies,” the Rajya Sabha member pointed out.