CPI(M) calls for bold and united’ struggle against BJP in LS polls

Jammu, Mar 24 (PTI) Senior CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami on Sunday requested the secular parties in Jammu and Kashmir to come together for a “bold and united” struggle against the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Tarigami, a former legislator, claimed that attempts are being made to politicise the armed forces and said “such a thing is not good for the country”.

“We appeal to all secular parties, social groups and even individuals having some influence in Jammu and Kashmir to join hands for a bold and united struggle to show the door to the BJP, which has snatched our constitutional and democratic rights and downgraded the historic state,” he told reporters here.

Tarigami said a message needs to be conveyed that what the BJP has done is not “acceptable to us.”

“We have to overcome our differences and unite and make the BJP pay for its deeds. The BJP has not done justice with us and they deserve no confidence,” the CPI(M) leader said, adding the secular opposition parties should understand that this is an “existential fight to save democracy”.

Asking the people to take a cue from the ongoing agitation in Ladakh where both Leh and Kargil districts came on the same page for their four-point demand, including statehood and sixth schedule of the Constitution, he said “the people of Jammu and Kashmir divisions also need to raise united voice in a democratic way for safeguarding our rights, the future and the identity”.

Welcoming the setting up of the opposition alliance INDIA bloc despite vast diversity, political ambitions and ideological differences, Tarigami said the unity of the people can save the country from the misrule of the present dispensation.

“The BJP is desperately trying to make opposition parties dysfunctional by brazenly using agencies like the ED, CBI, IT and falsely implicating them in different cases. They are organising defection in the opposition parties and arresting indiscriminately even the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of the opposition parties,” he said.

The CPI(M) leader said corruption is a major issue before the country as the electoral bond scheme introduced by the BJP in 2017 was the “biggest scam” in the country.

“The CPI(M) not only opposed the scheme but also knocked on the door of the Supreme Court. We welcome its judgment as it took off the veil on how agencies were used to arm twist the companies to pay money. We are on record as having said that the scheme was meant to legalize corruption and we have not received any electoral bond while the ruling party got thousands of crores of rupees,” he said, adding the government owes an explanation where the money had gone.

Tarigami said the country is run by democracy which speaks about transparency, accountability, level playing field and equality but “we have one party getting the lion’s share of electoral bonds, weakening the electoral process as opposition parties have got a very small amount”.

The CPI(M) leader also expressed concern over attempts to politicise the army by roping the force for organising a seminar on a “very sensitive and controversial issue of the Uniform Civil Code”.

The seminar, scheduled for March 26 in Srinagar, was cancelled by the army after facing backlash from the political parties. The army, however, said that it had nothing to do with the topic of the seminar and was only providing administrative help to its organisers.

“The attempt to organise a seminar on a very sensitive and controversial issue of the Uniform Civil Code is highly unfortunate. The military should not be politicised and its professionalism and secular ethos should not be undermined,” Tarigami said.

He said any attempt to politicise the army will weaken and adversely impact its professionalism and solidarity in its ranks.