“The Constitution is under threat from the BJP-RSS combine. If this combine is to be defeated in the 2024 elections, there is a need for all the secular political parties, including the Left parties, and the civil society to come onto one platform,” CPI general secretary D. Raja has said.
He was delivering the inaugural address at the two-day State Conference of the party that began in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
“The BJP can be defeated. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has shown the way by defeating the BJP and its allies,” Mr. Raja said.
“Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too has proved that there is nothing to be afraid of the BJP-RSS combine,” he added.
Advice to Jagan
Taking a dig at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the CPI leader said that “Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy should learn from Mr. Stalin and Mr. Nitish Kumar.”
“Instead of going to Prime Minister Narendra Modi every alternate day with a begging bowl, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy should demand his share. The core tenet of the Constitution is cooperative federalism, and it is the right of every State to get its share, even from the GST collected by the Union Government,” he said.
“It is time for Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to decide on which side he is, otherwise people will teach him a lesson,” said Mr. Raja.
The CPI leader also criticised the BJP and the RSS for staking claim in the freedom struggle.
“Let them name one leader who fought during the freedom struggle. It is the Congress and the Communists who fought,” Mr. Raja said, and accused the RSS of spreading hatred and inciting communal violence.
He further accused the Union government of using the investigating agencies such as the ED, the CBI and the NIA to “terrorise the Opposition.”
“Those who question the Centre are being termed as Urban Naxals or anti- nationals,” Mr. Raja alleged.
VSP sale
CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna, in his address, said the ongoing agitation against the proposed privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) crossed 18 months and it would continue till the Union government dropped the move.
He criticised the Chief Minister for using the police force to subdue all agitations and dissent.
“It is shameful to see YSRCP workers destroying the Anna Canteen at Kuppam before it could be inaugurated by TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.
J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy, State assistant secretary, and senior leader K. Narayana spoke.
Earlier, a rally was taken out from Gandhi statue to Gurajada Kalakshetram, where a public meeting was organised.
