Congress has to answer on Rahul’s candidature: Sitaram Yechury

Yechury said the Left is for a secular government with alternative policies as the economic policies of the BJP and the Congress are one and the same.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury speaking at the meet-the-press programme of KUWJ in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday | B P Deepu
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury speaking at the meet-the-press programme of KUWJ in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday | B P Deepu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury has said it is for the Congress party to answer as to why its national president Rahul Gandhi chose to contest from Wayanad against the Left Front. Yechury was addressing a ‘Meet the press’ programme organised by the Kesari Memorial Journalist Trust on Sunday.

The CPM leader said the Left is aiming at a national-level secular coalition to oust the BJP and Narendra Modi from power and the Congress president’s action on contesting against the Left in Wayanad will give a wrong message across. He also said the BJP Government is not stable at the Centre and added the people of the country are fed up with the misrule of the Narendra Modi Government.

Yechury said the Left is for a secular government with alternative policies as the economic policies of the BJP and the Congress are one and the same. He said the 2019 general elections are the most crucial elections in the country. He said the main intention of the Left parties in the elections is to strengthen its position and to play a crucial role.

He said in 2004 when the first UPA Government came to power, it was owing to the Left support several people-friendly schemes were implemented in the country, including the RTI Act, Tribal Land Act, Food Security Act and other schemes. He said the presence of a strengthened Left will influence the policies of the government towards people-friendly schemes as earlier.

Yechury said the people of the country are totally against the Narendra Modi Government and said the agrarian distress, demonetisation and GST in the unorganised sector will lead to the downfall of the Modi Government. He also said the Union Government is trying to undermine all the constitutional institutions, including the Supreme Court, CBI, RBI, Election Commission and even the CVC. To a question whether he will campaign in Wayanad for the Left candidate, Yechury said, “My tour programme is being decided by the Kerala state unit of the party and I don’t have any role in it.”

He also said the Left Front will strive to win all the 20 seats and when asked whether the front will try to defeat Rahul in Wayanad, Yechury said, “We are fighting the elections to increase the strength of the Left Front.” He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone overboard regarding Batalkot and also in the anti space missile programme.

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