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Setback to secular democracy: Left
By Our Special Correspondent
Having unsuccessfully contested one seat each — Jamnagar and Bhavnagar — in an electoral understanding with the Congress, the parties said the verdict carried a warning about the growing threat from communal forces. The CPI(M) general secretary, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, said the results were harmful for the country since the thrust of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi's campaign was aimed at raising the communal temperature.
The CPI(M) politburo member, Prakash Karat, said that over the years, the BJP and the RSS were carrying on work to communalise society and the recent large-scale violence was an indicator to it.
Sharing similar views, the CPI national secretary, D. Raja, said the poll outcome was a setback to the cause of secular democracy. The verdict threw up new challenges which should be addressed. While there should be no compromise in fighting the communal forces, there was also the need to take up issues concerning people such as poverty, hunger and unemployment.
Mr. Surjeet said the Congress should ponder over a development that compared to the last Assembly elections the party lost some four per cent vote share to the BJP. The reason for this factor, along with the loss of three Assembly byelections in Rajasthan, would have to be analysed. Mr. Karat said the results underlined the need to launch an effective political and ideological struggle against communal forces. He said the party's politburo would analyse the results tomorrow.
Victory, a surprise: Basu
PTI, UNI report:
The former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, today expressed surprise over the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the Gujarat Assembly election. Addressing a peasants' rally at Tentulia in the North 24 Parganas District, Mr. Basu said, ``It was surprising that how Gujarat's people once again voted the BJP to power even after experiencing the carnage where hundreds of people of minority community, particularly the Muslims, had lost lives in communal violence, ignited by the BJP and its allies.''
In Amritsar, the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, described it as "victory of communalism over secularism".
The Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, said the Congress' defeat in the bypolls in the State was the result of the "communal wave" in Gujarat.
`Fear psychosis'
The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, said the BJP had cashed in on the fear psychosis in Gujarat to win the elections and the outcome would not have any political fallout in his State where the mandate was for secularism.The BJP had made Godhra a poll plank. This trend is a very serious threat to secularism, he told newsmen in Mumbai.
The All-India Christian Council president, M. Mathai, called the BJP's victory "unfortunate" for the country.
In Pune, the Nationalist Congress Party president, Sharad Pawar,said the BJP victory was due to an "emotional wave".
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