New Delhi: With hardly a few days left to the election for the 18th Lok Sabha, the CPI-Marxist will release its election manifesto here on Thursday. Sources in the CPI-M told ETV Bharat on Tuesday that the manifesto categorised into three parts will highlight several crucial points like farmers' issue, economic crisis, safeguarding the weaker sections of society, unemployment as well as ensuring the secular democratic value of the Indian Constitution.
“We will highlight attacks on the Constitutional rights of freedom of expression, attacks on media persons and those critical of the government on social media and elsewhere and the indiscriminate branding of those critical of the RSS and BJP as being anti-national. The criminalisation of democratic dissent; harassment and intimidation of intellectuals standing up in support of those targeted by the government like Dalits,” said Hannan Mollah, former MP and a member of the CPI-M’s Election Manifesto Committee.
In the recent past, we have seen that the ruling party with the help of investigative agencies were involved in attacking media houses, Mollah said. The manifesto, according to Mollah, will also highlight the communal polarisation because of vote bank politics. “The ruling party (BJP) is taking forward the RSS ideology of making India a Hindu Rashtra by sidelining the secular democratic of the country,” said Mollah.
He claimed that by patronising private armies in the guise of cow protection or moral policing, “The BJP is trying to terrorise the minority community,” Mollah said. According to Mollah, the CPIM Election Manifesto will also highlight increasing crimes and attacks against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
“Women especially minority and Dalit women have been subjected to increased violence. We will substantiate our claim on atrocities against women with official statistics,” Mollah said. Issues like the condition of the Indian economy, national security, foreign policy and unemployment are some of the other major issues the manifesto will highlight.
“We will provide alternate policies for an inclusive growth of the country,” said Mollah and added, “We appeal to all secular democratic countries to come together to defeat BJP and save democracy.” The CPI-M and other Left constituents are the allies of the INDIA bloc platform.
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