Ruling out formation of any third front at the national level before the 2019 elections, CPI(M) Central Secretariat member V. Srinivasa Rao on Sunday asserted that his party would strive to improve its strength in Parliament on its own.
The CPI(M) would work towards unity among the Left parties and adopt State-specific approach for the 2019 elections. It would go in for electoral understanding with the like-minded parties wherever possible to further its goal of defeating the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and improving its tally in the Lok Sabha, he told The Hindu here.
There would not be any pre-poll alliances at the national level as such, he made it clear, adding the CPI(M) would take a decision on tie-ups depending on the political situation after the elections.
People were waiting to get rid of the “anti-people” Narendra Modi government, he said.
Price rise
Referring to the nation-wide ‘hartal’ proposed on Monday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao denounced the skyrocketing prices of petroleum products and the arrest of civil right activists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha in the wake of Bhima Koregaon violence in Maharashtra.
The increasing prices of petrol and diesel fuelled inflation and made the lives of the common people miserable, he observed, and questioned why excise duty had not been reduced on the petro products.
‘Defence scam’
Terming the Rafale aircraft deal as the “biggest Defence scam ever,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said Monday’s ‘hartal’ was to exert pressure on the NDA government to agree to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the issue.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao was here as part of the joint bus yatra of the CPI and the CPI(M) to project a political alternative to the ruling TDP and the Opposition YSRCP.
The Left parties decided to join hands with actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party and have ties with parties having a clean image such as the Lok Satta Party and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The bus yatra, being led by CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna, covered, among other places, Podili, Kanigiri, Markapur and Donakonda on Sunday.
Debt trap
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ramakrishna said the TDP government had failed on all fronts. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu could not secure Special Category Status to the State and ensure implementation of promises such as steel plant in Kadapa and railway zone in Visakhapatnam, he said.
He also charged Mr. Naidu with pushing the State into a debt trap by going on a borrowing spree, the latest being Amaravati bonds.
The State’s debt, which was ₹94,000 crore at the time of bifurcation, mounted to over ₹2,49,000 crore in the last four years, he claimed.