The CPI on Thursday organised a rally here at Gandhi Maidan which was attended by the leaders of most of the Left and other non-NDA parties. The theme of the well attended rally was “BJP hatao, Desh bachao” and the party presented former JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar as its star attraction and possible election campaigner.
The leaders of CPI, CPM, CPI(ML) and Congress, NCP, RJD and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in one voice called for greater unity among all the parties opposed to the BJP and give a tough fight with the sole motive of give crushing defeat to the saffron party and its allies in the 2019 general election.
But ironically, the family of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad maintained a distance from the rally. Tejashwi Yadav was supposed to address the rally but as insiders said the former deputy CM did not want to share dais with Kanhaiya because Yadav didn’t like any other youth leader hogging limelight in Bihar. RJD leaders, howevr, vehemently denied it. The party deputed its Bihar president Ram Chandra Purbe to attend it.
While D Raja and Sharad Yadav warned the people that the constitution and democracy was under attack and attempts were on to make India a theocratic state. Yadav said, “Your voting right will be snatched after 2019 polls.” He urged the people to crush those leaders who betrayed the mandate of 11 crore people in Bihar and 125 crore people in the country.
Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress bitterly criticised the NDA rule and came down heavily on “disastrous” outcomes of the demonetisation and GST. He said 35 lakh people lost their jobs due to these follies. He said 65,000 people became jobless in four years only in IT sector.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Ghosh while stressing on opposition unity said that there should also be an alliance of agitations in the country and Bihr should lead it. He said an anti-BJP atmosphere has created in the country and need of the hour was to honour their feelings and wishes. Former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM echoed similar sentiments and stressed on opposition unity not just for election but also for nation building.
Kanhaiya Kumar, who is supposed to contest Lok Sabha polls possibly from his home district Begusarai, said there was no single party which could take on BJP all alone so the target could be achieved only through unity. “When people are getting united the parties would have to unite,” he said.
He accused the centre of weakening all the constitutional offices and coercing them. “The Election Commission has become a spokesman of the BJP,” he alleged citing the examples of the declaration of the dates of Gujarat polls by BJP’s IT cell functionary much before ECI and the cancellation of the scheduled press conference by the ECI to delay announcement of the poll schedules of four States to give space to PM Narendra Modi for airing his pre-poll promises.