Several progressive organisations from across the country will come together to defeat the BJP, social activist S.R. Hiremath said in Dharwad on Thursday.
Citizens for Democracy (CfD), Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS), Janandolan Maha Maitri (JMM) and others will join hands in the fight against fascist and communal forces that are ruling the country, Mr. Hiremath, who is the CfD president, told journalists.
He said that a joint nation-wide campaign will be launched by the organisations before the Lok Sabha polls.
“Our opposition is also against some of the laws passed and rules being implemented by the Union government. For example, the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act 2023 was passed in Parliament in violation of the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court judgment of March 2023,” he said.
The Supreme Court had clearly prescribed that the committee to select the CEC and ECs of the Election Commission of India should consist of Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to ensure the independence of the Election Commission and to support its central role to conduct free and fair elections to Parliament at the Centre and Legislatures in the States.
“But the new Act replaces the Chief Justice of India in the selection committee by a Cabinet Minister chosen by the Prime Minister and nullifies the letter and spirit of the judgment. It also defeats the spirit and mandate of the founding fathers of this Republic in the Constituent Assembly. It must be opposed tooth and nail. The ruling BJP needs to be defeated decisively in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections for coming up with such anti-Constitutional amendmets,” Mr. Hiremath said.
Decision welcomed
He welcomed the Rail Land Development Authority’s decision to cancel a tender to lease out 13 acres of railway land in Hubballi to private developers. He said that the decision to lease the land is clearly the work of vested interests. “Such powerful people should be exposed,” he said.
He sought an inquiry headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court into the issue. SPS plans to challenge it through a PIL petition if the Rail Land Development Authority tries to lease out the property again, he said.
