No freedom of speech or expression during NDA rule: CPI

: Tamil Nadu CPI secretary R Mutharasan Saturday charged the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP)-headed NDA government at the Centre with denying the people freedom of speech and expression during the last five years of its rule.

He said this while campaigning for the candidates of the secular progressive alliance contesting the April 18 Lok Sabha poll and also the byelection to the Thattanchavady assembly constituency here.

The forthcoming poll should not be considered a poll battle alone, rather a 'political war' between parties and their ideologies, he said.

He said the Prime Minister had promised the people of the country during the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll in 2014 that farmers in distress would be helped, two crore jobs for the youth would be generated and steps to improve the lot of the weaker sections would be taken.

But, Modi had not done anything and his five- year rule was a 'monumental failure', he