Left united opposition parties, is at the centre of protests against Union govt in Delhi: CPM Politburo member

Kasaragod: The Left, which its political opponents have written off, is at the centre of the growing resistance against the BJP-led Union government and is uniting all opposition parties, including those that had previously been reluctant to work together, CPM Politburo member A Vijayaraghavan said on Thursday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the CPM's expanded district committee meeting in Kasaragod.

The resistance emerging against the Union government's authoritarianism and communal politics is comparable to the spirit of the freedom struggle, he said. “And the Left has emerged as a catalyst capable of bringing different forces together in these struggles,” he said.

He said the CPM had taken the initiative to bring opposition parties together, with the party's general secretary M A Baby writing to their leaders to urge a united stand. This, he said, created an opportunity for the INDIA bloc to meet after a considerable gap. “The opposition is now standing united, and that is a welcome development,” Vijayaraghavan said. Those who claim the Left has lost relevance must recognise its role as a unifying force, he said.

Massive protests have erupted across the country against the large-scale deletion of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with the resistance movement, the Coakroach Janta Party (CJP), and the opposition parties demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of SIR.

Vijayaraghavan alleged the SIR was removing voters from marginalised communities who had opposed the BJP in the last Lok Sabha election.

He said the Left's participation in protests alongside student and youth organisations, CJP, and other opposition parties demonstrated that it continued to have a role in national politics. "The Left has been consistently taking part in these agitations without a break. I am not saying that the Left alone has been conducting the protests. Left organisations, student organisations, youth organisations and all the other opposition parties have been participating in these struggles together," he said and added: "We must take the initiative to expand such struggles across the country and intensify them."

Congress victory could help BJP expand in Kerala
Turning to Kerala, Vijayaraghavan alleged that the Congress-led UDF won the recent Assembly election not because it commands overwhelming popular support. Rather, it has come to power by yielding to communal forces, he said. The V D Satheesan government in Kerala is now likely to function in a manner that helps the BJP's various efforts to capture the state, he alleged. "This is an issue we must watch carefully and remain vigilant about,” he said.

Coalition partner the Indian Union Muslim League has been given its share first, he said, referring to the appointment of League leader M K Muneer as the chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission. "Look at the BJP's case as well. The government has accepted several of its demands, including matters relating to the Governor. Both developments, in my view, reflect concessions to communal forces," said the CPM Politburo member.

He said the BJP was pursuing a concerted effort to expand its electoral base in Kerala, using tactical and strategic voting arrangements to prevent the Left from winning constituencies. “A government has thus come to power in Kerala that could open the door for the BJP to capture the state. This is a serious concern,” he said.

'KIIFB was corruption-free'
Vijayaraghavan criticised the state government move to bring the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) under budgetary allocation. He said KIIFB was one of the key institutions that had driven infrastructure development under the previous LDF government.

He said KIIFB had helped Kerala mobilise additional resources for development by directing revenue from sources such as liquor, petrol and vehicle taxes towards infrastructure projects. "This is a progressive development model,” he said.

Vijayaraghavan said corruption was not an issue associated with KIIFB; considerable care was taken to ensure that it remained free from corruption. “To dismantle this model would be to undermine that progress,” he said, alleging that the new government was opening up fresh avenues for corruption.