Secular forces must unit against Modi: CPI-M

The CPI-M has urged "all secular, democratic forces" to unite against the central government's "attacks on democracy and the federal structure".

An editorial in the CPI-M journal "People's Democracy" said the ouster of the Congress regime in Uttarakhand and its return to office after judicial intervention had dented the Narendra Modi government's image.

"Its image has been badly dented. The anti-democratic ways of the Modi-(Amit) Shah duo has met with a roadblock," said the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

"However, given the growing authoritarianism of the regime, it will be too much to expect them to mend their ways.

"Without relying solely on the judiciary, all the secular, democratic forces must unitedly resist all attacks on democracy and the federal structure," it added.

The editorial said said the Modi government's "sordid attempt to topple the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand and install a BJP government with the help of defectors has been thwarted by a vigilant judiciary".

Rawat won a floor test in the Uttarakhand assembly in an unprecedented Court-monitored vote on Tuesday. The Supreme Court suspended President's rule for two hours to facilitate this process.

"The Uttarkhand episode should be a salutary warning to all those in the future who would like to use Article 356 to topple elected governments," the editorial said.

"Hopefully, the Congress has also got the message. It was the Congress governments at the centre which misused the mechanism of President's Rule the most to topple non-Congress state governments in the past.

"It became a victim of the same diabolical mechanism."

--IANS

mr/