New Delhi: Interacting with women journalists at IWPC CPI General Secretary Sitaram Yachury said, 'A new trimurti is being sculpted by this government. One is of neo-liberal economic policies… Two, state patronage is being given to sharpening of communal polarisation…Third are the authoritarian tendencies of this government.'
Concerned about the upcoming Parliament session being disrupted on Lalitgate issue Yachury said,'Since all the major opposition parties have come out against the Lalit Modi issue, there is going to be uproar on the issue in the session coming ahead."
"After all, the present finance minister (Arun Jaitley) had said disruptions are a democratic method for opposition," he said.
"There should be thorough inquiry in all these allegations. Unless the inquiry is over, they must not be holding public offices," Yechury said in oblique reference to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who are alleged to have helped Lalit Modi.
"In similar cases in the UPA, they (BJP) said `investigate and take action`... This case should be investigated. What compromises were made should be known," he said.
The Left leader said the way the government has been surpassing parliament in legislative business was a very big threat.
Recalling how not a single business was transacted during the Winter session in 2010, when the UPA was in power, Yachury said,'It is a very big threat... they are depriving the lawmakers of their work.'
He said it indicated towards the "authoritarian tendencies" of the government.
"The majority in the Lok Sabha is on the basis of 31 percent vote share. The way they (BJP) are surpassing the Rajya Sabha... never happened before," he said.
The Left leader also accused the government of patronising communal polarisation.
"There is a state patronage to communal polarisation. People of RSS affiliation are being appointed in prominent posts... There is an attempt to replace history with mythology," he said.
"Where is the law of the land? What is being done is very dangerous," he said.
Asked for a comparison of the present NDA government with the previous one under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said: "The difference is the Vajpayee government was in minority. So because of the pressure, they had to at least publicly put the Hindutva agenda on the back burner. Today, the government has no compulsions, they are free," he said.
Asked about the road ahead for his party, Yechury said he was working on strengthening the party organisation.
"We need to strengthen the internal organisation of the party... The priority is to remove the weaknesses within," he said. "In the coming 3-4 months, we will focus on making the organisation strong."
Asked if any alliances with anti-BJP parties was ahead, he said: "Alliances will not yield results. We need to strengthen the party first."
Yechury took over as the CPI-M general secretary from Prakash Karat. The party is now at its historic low with just nine members in the Lok Sabha.
CPM general secretary described as an “ominous development” the significant rise in the BJP’s vote share in the byelection in Aruvikkara in Kerala. From 6 per cent in 2011 to 12 par cent in last year’s Lok Sabha polls, the BJP rose to nearly 24 per cent, dismantling the CPM’s challenge to the Congress.
Yechury termed the results “communalisation of the electorate” in a literate and progressive state. Yechury said the party’s state unit is examining the issue and any further course of action will be decided based on its report.
“This is a very very ominous development in Kerala… It remains the country’s most literate state, its electorate being the most conscious among various states in the country. If in a state like that you have positive swing towards BJP, then it is a doubly serious matter. We have to see how BJP’s vote percentage increased from 6 to 23 per cent,” Yechury said during an interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Corps.
The CPM faced a rising BJP in Tripura too. About West Bengal, which votes next year, Yechury said, “There is no question of any alliance or front with the Congress in West Bengal.” The priority is strengthening Left unity, he said. The party’s strategy in West Bengal is to “arrest” its decline, “retrieve” its lost base and “build” support. The statements come in the backdrop of West Bengal CPM unit leaders, including central committee member Gautam Deb, favouring an alliance with Congress for the state elections.
Demanding the resignation of Union minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje for links to Lalit Modi, Yechury said the monsoon session of Parliament could witness an uproar.
He accused the NDA government of being “authoritarian” and resorting to communal politics.
Making it clear that the resignations of ministers, against whom charges of impropriety is levelled, cannot be a bargaining point to pass legislations, Yechury said the Centre is trying to brazen out the allegations.
The UPA too had ridiculed the Opposition’s demand for a fair probe into the 2G scam, removing A Raja as a minister, he said. “The government should constitute a thorough enquiry into the issue and the ministers should resign from their posts till the probe is over,” he said.
Yechury further said the Left parties will work together with other opposition parties on the issue in Parliament. The Rajya Sabha MP said since the opposition parties have together targeted the government on Lalitgate, disruptions are likely till a fair probe is announced on the controversies.
Voicing concern about the growth of the BJP in Kerala, he said his party’s State unit is examining the causes of defeat in the Aruvikkara by-poll. “This is a very ominous development in Kerala. It is a development that reflects the communalisation of the Kerala electorate. Kerala remains country's most literate State, its electorate being the most conscious in the country. If in a State like that you have positive swing towards BJP...then it is a doubly serious matter,” he said.
Claiming that information is emanating from "some or the other source" as new developments are taking place in Lalit Modi controversy "everyday", CPI (M) today demanded the entire row involving senior BJP leaders be inquired through a court-appointed special investigation team.
CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury also reiterated the party's demand that "those BJP leaders" involved in the controversy should resign from their official posts.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is at the centre of the row for helping Lalit Modi procure British travel documents while Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is accused of supporting the former IPL chief's immigration plea.
"Definitely, there is feeding taking place from some or the other source (in the government). Even if this has to be found out, the entire matter needs to be thoroughly inquired into," Yechury said.
Yechury said CPI (M) will continue to take the "same position" over the Lalit Modi issue during the upcoming session of Parliament.
Asked about reports of Congress allegedly offering deal to government under which it was ready to support passage of GST bill if the Centre axed Swaraj and Raje, Yechury said none can bargain if he/she wants to hold anybody accountable and stressed law of the land has to prevail.
"Well, I am not aware of any such proposal. If you want to hold people accountable for their political immorality, you can't really bargain, you know. Law of the land has to prevail.
"In similar cases during UPA tenure, we said investigate and take action. Same yard stick has to be applied to this. You investigate and take action. Everyday new information is coming out and nothing is being done. So, what deals they are making I don't know," the Rajya Sabha member said.
Taking a jibe at the BJP-led NDA government, Yechury said people did not wait long to see scams being unearthed during its tenure vis-a-vis UPA.
"The reasonable thing for the BJP to do is remove (foreign minister) Sushma Swaraj and (Rajasthan chief minister) Vasundhara Raje till a thorough probe by an independent authority is carried out," the Rajya Sabha MP said during an interaction with members of the Indian Women Press Corps.
"But since the Narendra Modi government has decided to brazen it out instead, the upcoming session will be disrupted," he added, referring to the session starting July 21.
The Left leader also slammed the government over its "shaky" economic and social sector policies.
"All key sectors of our economy have been opened up to greater FDI inflows. The government is backtracking on many issues it had opposed earlier, such as permitting FDI in retail...but there is no change in manufacturing or industrial output. (On the other hand), agrarian distress is deepening... this is happening under a leadership that gave the country a promise of hope."
Yechury then referred to "the rising forces of communalism", calling them "dangerous" and accusing the government of replacing history with mythology and philosophy with theology.
He pointed to the BJP's vote share gains in a recent bypoll in former Left bastion Kerala as indicative of "communalisation across the country" and something that required "serious discussions".
