No one should fight elections for the sake of fighting elections, CPI general secretary D. Raja said on Monday when asked about actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam contesting the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections projecting it as a party that will ring in change.
Mr. Raja told journalists in Coimbatore, “CPI has an ideology, CPI (M) has an ideology, DMK does have an ideology. What is the ideology of the so called Makkal Needhi Maiam? What is Makkal Needhi? It is not something new,” he said. In fact, Dr. Ambedkar was the first to speak on the question of justice. One should not indulge in fighting elections for the sake of fighting elections. There should be a serious agenda, ideology, commitment to the people, he said.
On the likely election results, Mr. Raja said, “We hope it will be an overwhelming victory (for the DMK-led front). As pointed out by many, it can be a sweep, maybe a landslide victory for the DMK-led front. Tamil Nadu is preparing for a change in government. People want to remove the AIADMK from power and not allow the BJP to gain foothold in the State,” he said.
According to him, the AIADMK has failed to defend the interests and rights of the State. It has become a kind of an appendage to the BJP. It does not have independent positions and does not have independent courage to express its dissent to the policies pursued by the Central government, Mr. Raja charged.
The results of elections in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, West Bengal, and Assam will be the beginning of the defeat of the BJP’s rule in the Centre, he felt.
The Indian Constitution defines the Indian State as a secular and welfare State. The BJP is neglecting both these aspects. It is not a political party but the political wing of the RSS, which aims to destroy the country's democracy, he claimed.
The Election Commission has the mandate from the Constitution to conduct free and fair elections. “Money power plays a dirty role in the electoral process in our country,” Mr. Raja said. The BJP is the only party that has made money using electoral bonds. The concept of electoral bonds itself is wrong. Now, the BJP is taking advantage of it, he alleged.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that he had done satyagraha for the freedom of Bangladesh, Mr. Raja asked, “Where was the BJP in 1971?” According to him, fascists always believe in lies and spread lies and they think if lies are repeated, people will be forced to take it as truth. Mr. Modi is the Prime Minister. He should not speak falsehoods, he said.