BJP persuing communal politics, making people poorer: Yechury

Riding on communal politics, the BJP-led central government is executing anti-people economic policies to make the deprived people poorer and the rich wealthier, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said here on Tuesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government is "purusing communal politics and carrying out anti-people economic policies so that the poor people turn poorer and the rich can become wealthier", the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary said here addressing a seminar.

"The BJP-led government at the Centre is doing a dirty vote bank politics to change the history of the country, destroying the integration among cross section of people," he said.

"Despite repeated insistence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not give commitment to stop the communal attacks and hatred activities in the country," Yechury said.

The seminar was organised in connection with the centenary celebrations of former Tripura chief minister Dasaratha Deb, a father figure of the communist movement in Tripura.

Deb was elected to the Lok Sabha after the first parliamentary elections in 1952 despite being underground in view of the arrest warrant against him. The veteran tribal leader along with another former chief minister, Nripen Chakraborty, had founded the communist base in Tripura.

Yechury said since Modi-led government came to the power at the Centre, the country's growth rate, foreign trade, agricultural and manufacturing growth are declining, affecting the job opportunity of millions of educated unemployed youths.

Prices of essential items are soaring, the value of Indian currency against US dollar is coming down from Rs.56 to a dollar to Rs.70 to a dollar after the BJP government came to power, he added.

Giving a call to party cadres to "unite people against the anti-people policies of the Modi government", the CPI-M leader said "without struggle and mass movement, communist party could not be expanded and people's distress would not be resolved".

As fish stays alive in water, the CPI-M can thrive through mass struggle with the basic issues of the people, particularly the deprived people, Yechury added.

"The CPI-M must be a revolutionary party with support base among the people. Through the movement and struggle, the party can become stronger," Yechury said.

"When we talk about the alternative policies, we are referring to the Tripura model of development in the country. And policies like Tripura's can be executed in India for the betterment of the people," he said.

Tripura Chief Minister and CPI-M politburo member Manik Sarkar, state party secretary and the party's central committee member Bijan Dhar also spoke at the seminar.

Sarkar said Dasaratha Deb, Nripen Chakraborty, Biren Datta and other CPI-M leaders not only fought against the misrule of the royal dynasty but also against the superstitious traditional customs of the tribal society.

"Since 1945, Dasaratha Deb despite not being a Left member, struggled for the allround development of both tribal and non-tribals, especially for the progress of the tribals' education," he added.