Only policies will bring change and not an individual; CPI

Pitching for a secular,democratic, Left platform to defeat BJP in the 2019 general elections, CPI today said that only policies would bring about a change and not by (projecting) an individual.

"The four year rule of Narendra Modi led government at the Centre has spelt disaster to the nation in all the fields, particularly the economy, health and education," CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told reporters here.

He quoted a survey in 2017 to buttress his point that government has adopted 'pro-corporate' and 'anti-people' policies, saying it said 10 per cent of people owning 49 per cent of India's wealth in 2014 and this had now shot up to 73 per cent.

Reddy alleged that the government misused the approval given by political parties and unscientifically implemented the Goods and Services Tax, which had to be amended 12 times, creating problems in the industrial sector.

As far as the GDP was concerned, the government, by changing the accounting pattern, was projecting the growth rate at 7.7 per cent, whereas the real growth would be only 5 to 5.5 per cent, Reddy claimed.

Alleging that reduced allocation to education, social welfare, despite getting a whopping two lakh crore from excise and tax on petrol and gas, has put more strain on people, he said the party would stage agitations demanding their withdrawal to bring it to the 2014 level.

Reddy said the NDA government's agriculture policy has not found favour even by BJP ruled states.

There were also increasing instances of attacks on Dalits and minorities, he said.

"To save the nation from this disaster, there is a need to oust the government, for which a secular, democratic, left platform should be in place," he said.

To a question on whether the party saw BJP returning to power after the 2019 elections in the event of the opposition failing to put up a united front, he said though there may not be a pre-poll alliance, there could be one after the polls, with smaller and regional parties getting more seats.

"Who had thought that Deve Gowda will be Prime Minister?, he asked.

Asked whether the party saw Congress President Rahul Gandhi as an inspiring person to lead the opposition, Reddy said "we do not not want any leader.... Leader will not bring the change, policies will bring the change."