MADURAI: If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is confident that the BJP will cross the 400+ winning mark in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, then why is he visiting Tamil Nadu for the ninth time in this election phase, asked CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in Madurai on Saturday, adding that Modi knows that north India will not vote for the saffron party this time.
Claiming that the country has been witnessing a legalisation of political corruption, Yechury said, "While landing in the state on Monday, Modi has to answer how a corrupt person turns pure on joining the BJP. Is this the 'Modi's Guarantee' to fight against corruption? Leaders are termed corrupt by the BJP as long as they are with the INDIA bloc. There is legalisation of political corruption taking place and electoral bonds are its latest example."
Yechury, who stated three ways through which corruption crept in electoral bonds -- direct extortion, support for provision of electoral bonds, money laundering, alleged, "The four foundational pillars of the Constitution are under attack under Modi's rule. In the Modi regime, a person is guilty until he is proven innocent. That is how they attack the democratic rights of individuals."
He further said atrocities are mounting against Dalits, tribals and women in the country, and blamed the BJP for halting the Keezhadi excavation. "They (BJP) did not want archaeology findings to go beyond their Aryan-Hindu culture and hence did not allow the excavation to take place," he added.