Minority backlash against Cong(I) certain: CPI

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 15. The CPI State secretary, Mr. Veliyam Bhargavan, has said that there would certainly be a minority backlash against the Congress(I) for its overt and covert tie-up with the BJP for the coming panchayat polls.

"The Congress(I)-BJP nexus will prove an eye-opener for the minorities. The panchayat poll results would show the disintegration of the traditional minority base of the Congress(I)," the CPI leader said while participating in a "Meet- the-Press" programme organised by the Kesari Memorial Journalists' Trust here today.

He wanted to know how the Muslim League proposed to react to the situation. "We have information that the Congress(I) and the BJP are hand-in-glove in seven panchayats in Kasaragod district and efforts are on for alliances between the two in more panchayats. We wish to know how the Muslim League proposes to react to this. Will it solicit votes for BJP candidates who are being endorsed by the Congress(I)," Mr. Bhargavan asked.

The CPI leader said the LDF is going to the polls with full confidence and far more unity than was the case at any time in the past. The UDF is aware of this and that is why the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. A.K. Antony, has gone on record that the UDF does not view the local bodies polls as a referendum on the performance of the LDF Government. He did not agree with the contention that rebel candidates were as much an headache for the LDF as it is for the UDF. The number of rebels is far less this time, he said.

According to him, the three main issues in the current elections are Kerala's achievements in decentralisation of powers and financial resources to the panchayat bodies and the gains of the exercise, the performance of the Nayanar Government and the impending changes in the national political scene. The experiment in democratic decentralisation attempted by the State had been praised by the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, in his Independence Day message to the nation.

Similarly, a comparison of the track record of the present Government with its two predecessors headed by Mr. K. Karunakaran and Mr. Antony would show that the LDF Government is far ahead of the two. At the national level, major changes are in the offing. The recent panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh have shown heavy erosion in the BJP's mass base. The party could not win even the Lucknow municipality in the Prime Minister's constituency.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held early next year with those in Kerala, West Bengal and other States. The polls would lead to disintegration of the BJP-led NDA and emergence of the Left as the rallying point of a new third alternative. The Congress(I) has degenerated to the status of a "supportive Opposition" and it is unwilling to take on the BJP for its economic policies. The Left is willing to take on anyone on all these issues, he added.

Asked how the LDF accuses the Congress(I) of unprincipled alliances when it was allying with the Muslim League, Mr. Bhargavan said the LDF had only local level adjustments with the League and there was nothing secretive about it. These were places where the Muslim League units have come forward to ally with the LDF in protest against the Congress(I)-BJP nexus. Does the Congress(I) have the courage to own up its ties with the BJP, he asked.

The CPI leader came down heavily on the BJP and its allies for their campaign against the West Bengal Government. Their attempt, he said, is to get the Central Government to declare Bengal a disturbed area and intervene. They are worried about the Left emerging as a major force after the Assembly elections and that is why they are trying to dismiss the Bengal Government. The BJP- Trinamul Congress move is against the principles of federalism and in violation of all democratic norms. That the BJP does not believe in federalism can be seen from the writings of Golwalker himself, he pointed out.

Asked to how the Education Minister, Mr. P.J. Joseph's meeting with Mr. Bill Gates to solicit financial assistance tallied with the LDF's opposition to liberalised economic policies, the CPI leader said the meeting with an industrialist could not be equated with liberalisation of the nation's economic policies which hurt States like Kerala. The Left, he said, has nothing against foreign capital. The Left position is that foreign capital should, as is happening in China, come on India's terms and not the other way round, he said.

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Section  : Southern States
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