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  India   Politics  14 Apr 2019  Sitaram Yechury blames BJP, TMC for 'competitive communalism' over Ram Navami

Sitaram Yechury blames BJP, TMC for 'competitive communalism' over Ram Navami

THE ASIAN AGE. | RAJIB CHOWDHURI
Published : Apr 14, 2019, 7:18 pm IST
Updated : Apr 14, 2019, 7:37 pm IST

He also observed that the people's vote for any of the two parties would be counter-productive for both.

Sitaram Yechury   (Photo: PTI)
 Sitaram Yechury (Photo: PTI)

Kolkata: Accusing the BJP and Trinamool Congress of playing "competitive communalism" over Ram Navami celebration in West Bengal CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday saw an "ominous sign" in what he described as a "mutual feeding of each other" and "tacit understanding" between the two parties in the Lok Sabha Elections. He also observed that the people's vote for any of the two parties would be counter-productive for both.

At the state CPI(M) headquarters Mr Yechury said, "This Baishakhi is being observed as a mark of respect of the centennary Jalliwanwalah Bagh massacre all over the country. One would have expected, apart from the CPI(M) and Left, that people would be mobilised in Bengal for such an important event because Jalliwanwalah Bagh massacre, apart from everything else, symbolised a certain unity among the Indian public. The number of Muslims who died in the massacre was much larger than the number of Sikhs."

He noted, "So this thing is absolutely important in today's context. Unfortuantely it has been missed out and Bengal has been more on Ram Navami now and the competitive communalism that is taking place between the BJP and Trinamool. Yesterday I was in Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling constituencies of North Bengal. Unfortuantely what appears is that there is a sort of a mutual feeding of each other between the Trinamul and BJP. This is a very ominous sign for Bengal because this sort of competitive communalism is something that is going to erase any democractic civil acitivity."

The CPI(M) general secretary claimed, "All the information that I have received is that there is some sort of an understanding that is evolving because ideologically and in terms of objectives it suits both the Trinamool and BJP to have each other as adversary because they feed each other. The greater communal polarisation from one end will feed the communal polarisation on the other. This has always been the problem among the communal forces."

Taking a dig at the Trinamool and BJP he reasoned, "Even in the election I would not be surprised to see some degree of tacit understanding between the two. So our effort and appeal to the people is to realise the gravity in the country and Bengal. This is something they must guard against. A vote to either of them to defeat either is actually helping the other. The feeling for your vote to Trinamul to vote the BJP and vice versa is acutally going to strengthen the both. It is absolutely counter-productive."

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Tags: sitaram yechury, mamata banerjee, narendra modi
Location: India, West Bengal, Calcutta [Kolkata]