THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Calling for more dynamic, movement-oriented initiatives outside Parliament, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the INDIA bloc was not formed solely for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“You can see many coordinated moves by the INDIA front in Parliament. Similar initiatives should be made outside too,” Bhattacharya said. Delivering the 24th N Narendran Memorial Lecture at the YMCA Hall in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, Bhattacharya also emphasised on the need for united efforts to fight the “fascist offensive in the country”.
Referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, he said, “If they get away with this in Bihar, they will apply it everywhere else; it could be Kerala tomorrow.” The CPI(ML) leader was speaking on the topic ‘Bihar: Trial run for mass disenfranchisement’.
Calling the SIR an invasive reconstruction of electoral rolls, he said it was unacceptable to see 66 lakh people being ejected from the rolls despite a list with their names having been released in January this year.
“The ECI (Election Commission of India) officials want us to believe their claim that 22 lakh people died and 35 lakh people migrated from Bihar in six months. If you are a Dalit, a Muslim, or a woman, you could be considered dead in the list. But if you are a privileged NDA supporter, then you will make it to the rolls,” he said.
According to the SIR norms, most workers who migrate to different parts of the country will not be considered ordinary residents of the state, leaving them in an identity crisis, he said.