Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat said that the Aam Aadmi Party’s mandate in the Delhi Assembly elections was a “tight slap” on the BJP’s and RSS faces.

Addressing a gathering at the divisional-level conference on ‘Empowerment of women’ and ‘Save the Constitution’ here on Thursday, Ms. Karat said that by voting the AAP to power the people of Delhi have given a befitting reply to the RSS agenda and BJP’s politics of hate and violence.

She slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that when the entire nation was bothered about the GDP and the economic crisis, Mr Modi has only two agendas: Shaheen Bagh and Pakistan. “I am proud of the Shaheen Bagh women who have become the face of resistance against the rise of fascism”.

Reiterating her concern that despite repeated condemnation of violence against women, Ms. Karat said that crimes against women were at an all-time high with one rape occurring every 90 minutes in India.

Accusing Home Minister Amit Shah of the alleged misuse of the Delhi police, Ms. Karat said that Mr. Shah and the BJP leaders used all means to win Delhi elections but they failed.

“Though the BJP leaders used the Delhi election rallies to express their hate as a campaign message, the National Commission for Women maintained a silence. Even the Election Commission failed to impose serious action against the BJP leaders for their hate speeches,” she added.

Ms. Karat alleged that the Modi-led government was trying to change the Constitution and called upon people to unite against their divisive and dangerous attempts to destroy the nation’s secular fabric with the draconian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

“Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah have misled the people on the CAA and the NRC. They tried to manipulate people with their provocative statements while remaining insensitive to the protests and violence that spread across the country.”