Brinda Karat, a CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, accused BJP of using all the government powers to eliminate opposition parties in the country.
She said that 10 years of BJP rule was an assault on the pillars of the constitution, secularism, fedaralism, and social justice, which are all systematically dismantled. One per cent of the rich Indians are controlling 40 per cent of the wealth of the country who benefited from BJP policies, she said while addressing a meet-the-press Vote n Talk organised by Ernakulam Press Club.
The CPI (M) decided to join the INDIA bloc to save the country from the BJP-RSS regime and to protect its constitutional values, she said.
She asked Congress leaders to advise Rahul Gandhi to withdraw his statement inviting ED to arrest Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The statement of Rahul Gandhi was condemnable and shameful, especially when Central government agencies, including the ED, the Income Tax Department, and the CBI, are out targeting opposition leaders, she said.
It may be recalled that Rahul Gandhi, while speaking at a public meeting in Kannur, wondered why central agencies are evading the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan on the corruption charges raised against him. Condemning the statement, Brinda Karat demanded the Congress leadership look into the issue.
CPI (M) had earlier criticised the arrest of the two Chief Ministers by the ED when the country was going to polls. The party had strongly condemned the expulsion of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament, the freezing of accounts of the Congress, and the attempts to term the entire Gandhi family as corrupt. The party had never demanded the arrest of any members of the Gandhi family. The party adopted such a stance after adopting some principled positions, she said.
The INDIA bloc had also jointly condemned the arrest of Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal, she added.