CPI(ML) lambasts BJP over Sadhvi Pragya, Giriraj

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation on Friday flayed the BJP for fielding Sadhvi Pragya in the general elections and charged the party with having helped the Hindu extremist leader in securing bail on the basis of a false claim of illness.

Addressing a press conference here, CPI(ML)-Liberation secretary general Dipankar Bhattacharya said the BJP has no other strategy except polarization of voters by triggering communal frenzy. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur has been a symbol of the Sangh brand of terrorism. Her getting a party ticket from Bhopal has to be seen in this light.

She sought bail with the false claim of illness. Her claim of having suffered from cancer is also being disputed, the ultra- Left leader said referring to the Sadhvis claim that she was cured of the deadly ailment with the help of a therapy that involved the use of gau mutra (cow urine).

Many medical experts have come out with statements rubbishing the Sadhvis claims and adding that tests conducted on her never showed that she suffered from cancer and that there has been no scientific evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of gau mutra in treating the disease.

Moreover, the candidature of Sadhvi Pragya exposes the duplicity of the BJP which has been stoutly opposed to Lalu Prasad getting bail even though the ageing RJD supremo is suffering from multiple ailments. The jailed leader is not even being allowed to meet his family members, Bhattacharya alleged.

Notably, the RJD though not having any truck with the Left parties is supporting the CPI(ML) candidate in Ara, which is currently held by Union minister and BJP leader R K Singh.

The ultra-Left outfit has responded by announcing that it would support Prasads eldest daughter Misa Bharti in Pataliputra.

Bhattacharya also lambasted Union minister Giriraj Singh, the BJP candidate from Begusarai, for his recent advocacy of a ban on green flags and asked does it not mean that he and his party hate farmers, since many peasants outfits have emblems of the same colour.

The firebrand BJP leader had recently said that parties should be restrained from having flags that were green in colour stating these reminded people of Pakistan and Islamic extremism.

As if that was not enough, Giriraj came out with another outrageous statement about Muslims not reciting Vande Mataram and needing land for burial, Bhattachary said referring to the Union ministers latest statement which has led to his being booked for violating model code of conduct.

He also said the Election Commission has been found wanting in clamping down on such brazenly communal politics be it in Bihar or neighboring Uttar Pradesh.

Bhattacharya also accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of having surrendered before the BJPs agenda and looking sideways in the face of incidents of mob lynching and communal riots.

We are contesting the Siwan seat where the JD(U) is functioning like an extended arm of Yogi Adityanaths Hindu Yuva Vahini. Attempts are being made to import the UP Chief Ministers Gorakhpur model into Bihar, Bhattacharya alleged.

The JD(U) has fielded its young MLA Kavita Singh from Siwan, where the wife of former RJD MP and dreaded gangster Mohd Shahabuddin is also in the fray.