Leaders of the Left parties and the representatives of various organisations on December 31 (Sunday) said that Indian Constitution was “under threat” in the BJP rule at the Centre and that there was a dire need to protect it by rejecting the party in the forthcoming elections.
Speaking at a discussion organised by the Congress, which invited all parties and organisations that are opposed to the “BJP’s misrule”, they said that if the situation was allowed to continue, it might deprive the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and other minority sections of their rights. They were unanimous in their opinion that they should extend their support to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and dethrone the BJP in the elections.
Congress senior leader J.D. Seelam, who presided over the meeting, said Dalits and other BCs were “feeling unsafe” and that they had been asking the Congress to bring back safety. “Let us all form a combined front and fight against the BJP and its friendly allies,” he said, adding that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), the TDP and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) were “directly or indirectly BJP’s friends”.
“It is going to be us versus the BJP and its allies in the State as well,” he added.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gidugu Rudra Raju said all the regional parties in the State—YSRCP, TDP and JSP— were directly or indirectly supporting the BJP, which had denied Andhra Pradesh the developmental projects sanctioned at the time of the bifurcation.
“There is a need to support the INDIA bloc to protect democracy and secularism and to protect the rights of the weaker sections,” he said.
CPI(M) leader Y. Venkateswara Rao, CPI leader Jelly Wilson, AICC secretary Sirivella Prasad, Bharat Bachao leader M.F. Gopinath, Liberation Party State secretary Murthy and a host of other representatives of various parties and organisations were present at the meeting.
