by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Pinarayi Vijayan
By V.S. Chandrasekar,
New Delhi : A pre-poll alliance with the Congress is ruled out, says Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan, who appears not to completely rule out a tactical tie-up with it after the 2019 general elections to check the BJP.
The Marxist leader also favours his party taking the initiative in mobilising secular parties, especially the regional ones, against the Bharatiya Janata Party in various states.
“Generally speaking, there is no question of any truck or alliance with the Congress. The Congress is not a party with which we can have an alliance. Other things are hypothetical,” Vijayan told IANS in an interview here.
The Chief Minister also talked about the “flop show” of the BJP-RSS against the Left in Kerala and controversies like beef ban and the atmosphere of intolerance in the country.
Having come under pressure from the BJP and the RSS-led Sangh Parivar, which has launched an aggressive campaign ‘Janraksha Yatra’ (Protect People March) in his state, the veteran leader vowed to fight the BJP and the Sangh Parivar “tooth and nail”, saying they want to “destroy” Kerala, which the people won’t support.
The BJP had become “a national enemy with its policies” and the country was in deep economic trouble due to demonetisation and the GST (Goods and Services Tax), he said.
He also accused the BJP of towing the RSS line completely and spreading intolerance in the society by forcing people’s eating habits and violence against intellectuals.
The CPI-M leader’s stand on pre-poll alliance assumes significance in the context of the just-concluded three-day meeting of the party Central Committee, which discussed the issue amid speculation that a section of the party, led by General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and including V.S. Achutanandan, favoured a tie-up with the Congress to take on the BJP.
Media reports say the Central Committee was divided 32-31 against a tie-up with the Congress. The section led by former General Secretary Prakash Karat was said to be strongly opposed to doing business with the Congress.
Asked if the party would reconsider the strategy of not tying up with the Congress to keep the BJP at bay, Vijayan said: “Things about elections the party will decide at that time. We can talk about it only at that time. We cannot take a total stand right now.”
To a question whether tactical seat adjustments with the Congress was possible, he said: “In this current atmosphere, this is our stand. Rest of the things we will think at the time of the election.”
The Chief Minister said that even in 2004 elections, because of the danger of the BJP, the Left and the Congress entered into a Common Minimum Programme, but the government formed by the Congress pursued neo-liberalisation policies, which were now being followed by BJP.
“The BJP is the main enemy, but that doesn’t mean that the policies of the Congress are welcome. To oppose communalism and neo-liberal policies is our stand,” the leader said. The Congress never accepted that it made a mistake, he added.
On tying up with non-Congress secular parties, he said the CPI-M would make electoral alliances to defeat the BJP.
Asked about the recurring political violence in Kannur district in Kerala between the CPI-M and RSS cadres, the trigger for the Sangh Parivar’s verbal assault on the ruling party, Vijayan laid the blame squarely on the RSS.
“The RSS started it. The attack was started to gain power (control of area) in a specific way.
“Now, we tried to end these violence through peace talks. After becoming Chief Minister, we had discussions in two stages: All party meeting and bilateral meetings and a consensus was reached to restore peace,” he added
But, Vijayan said, after the talks there have been incidents and the RSS had given leadership. “That’s why the whole problem is not ending.”
He referred to the much-publicised Janraksha Yatra this month when BJP President Amit Shah travelled to Payyannur in Kannur to launch the campaign, which Vijayan termed “a complete flop.”
“Amit Shah thought and gave an impression that the whole of Kerala will go berserk and follow him. In their march, apart from those walking on the road with them, there was no one to welcome them. Because of the failure, the next day Amit Shah called off a march he was to carry through in front of my house in Kannur,” the veteran leader said.
Vijayan said for the first time in the history of the country the entire power of the Centre was used in a state against a political rival.
“Central ministers, Chief Ministers of different states and MPs all had come to Kerala for the march. Even though it is said to be BJP’s march, actually the RSS is behind it. The RSS chief in his Vijayadasami speech had attacked Kerala and the march followed the speech.”
The Chief Minister expressed satisfaction over the result in the Assembly by-election in Vengara, where the BJP was pushed to the fourth position in the midst of attempts by the RSS to pitchfork the party to the front.
Though the LDF lost the elections, it raised its vote share by getting 40,000 plus votes in the area, which is dominated by Indian Union Muslim League.
On the controversies surrounding the ban on beef, Vijayan said the BJP was implementing RSS’ policies of intolerance.
“People have different eating habits. Can anyone say that you should eat only what I eat? If someone does, can the society accept it? But they (BJP) sought to enforce it with very high intolerance. What right do I have to look at what is the food stored in your kitchen? They’re doing this because they’re in power,” Vijayan said.
Referring to killing of intellectuals by suspected rightwing forces, he said: “Your opinion may not match mine and I can oppose it openly and that’s the tradition which was being followed in our country. But now people who speak up are being killed. Thinkers Pansare, Kalburgi, Dabholkar were killed. Then Gauri Lankesh and Santanu. All this shows a high level of intolerance.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate Jobs, Economy, Employment, Government Jobs, News, Politics, Private Jobs
Sitaram Yechury
New Delhi : Attacking the central government on “slowdown in economy and jobless growth”, the CPI-M on Monday accused it of “creating more jobs outside India by focusing on imports” than within the country.
“It is now a well-established fact that the economy is virtually coming to a grinding halt,” Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters after a meeting of its Central Committee here.
“There is a decline in every sector. The services sector, for the first time, is contracting.”
“Imports have gone up whereas industrial production has declined. That means the Modi government is creating more jobs outside India, whereas virtual de-industrialisation is taking place after demonetisation in India,” he said.
Taking a dig, Yechury said the Modi government’s ‘acchhe din’ promise was never fulfilled and the people were in fact now demanding return of their ‘bure din’ (bad days).
He said that due to the combined effects of Goods and Services Tax and demonetisation, “a very rapid phase of domestic de-industrialisation has set in the country”.
At the same time, the burden on the people is increasing, Yechury said.
The CPI-M leader said that while the central government was writing off non-productive assets of banks vis-a-vis big corporates, no such relief was available for small farmers unable to repay their loans.
“The Central Committee condemned the NPA write-offs of big corporates totalling more than Rs 2 lakh crore instead of initiation of recovery proceedings. In sharp contrast, when small farmers and those owning small amounts to banks are unable to pay back, their properties are confiscated,” a CPI-M statement said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Media, News, Politics
New Delhi : The Congress, CPI-M and the AAP on Sunday sought an inquiry into allegations by a news website that the turnover of a company linked to Jay Shah, son of BJP chief Amit Shah, increased 16,000 times after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.
The BJP rubbished the allegations and Jay Shah issued a statement saying the article carried by the website ‘The Wire’ had made “false, derogatory and defamatory imputations” against him.
Jay Shah said his businesses were fully legitimate and he had decided to “prosecute the author, editor and owner of the aforesaid news website for criminal defamation and sue them for an amount of Rs. 100 crore”.
He said the article creates an impression “that my business owes its success to my father Sri Amit Bhai Shah’s political position”.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal said at a press conference in the afternoon that information obtained from the Registrar of Companies had revealed that Temple Enterprises Pvt Ltd, a company in which Jay Shah was a Director and which had a turnover of just Rs 50,000 in 2014-15, suddenly saw a spike of 16,000 times in its turnover in a year.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh also held a press conference and made similar allegations, saying the fortunes of Amit Shah’s son rose after the BJP came to power and he became the party chief. The AAP demanded a probe into the matter.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet: “Serious corruption charges against BJP President’s son need investigation. BJP Presidents eg Advani, Laxman had resigned on lesser charges.”
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi also hit out at the Modi government. “We finally found the only beneficiary of Demonetisation. It’s not the RBI, the poor or the farmers. It’s the Shah-in-Shah of Demo. Jai Amit,” he said in a tweet.
Sibal said at the media briefing that Temple Enterprises had recorded losses in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 of Rs 6,230 and Rs 1,724, respectively, but showed a profit of about Rs 18,000 in 2014-15. The following year (2015-16), its turnover jumped to a whopping Rs 80 crore, he said.
The change in fortunes of the company came after it received an unsecured loan of Rs 15.78 crore from KIFS Financial Services owned by a relative of a BJP Rajya Sabha member, Sibal claimed.
The Congress leader also alleged that Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, a PSU under Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, had given a loan of Rs 10. 25 crore to Kusum Finserv, a limited liability partnership or LLP, in which Jay Shah had a 60 per cent stake, even though this company had no prior experience of operating in the power sector.
“We are only saying that pradhan sevak should probe because this is excellent example of crony capitalism.”
The BJP fielded Railway Minsiter Piyush Goyal to counter the allegations that he termed as “malicious and defamatory”.
“The article through malicious imputations is trying to damage the reputation of our leader Amit Shah ” he said.
He termed Congress’ allegations as “old Congress style”.
Clarifying about the dealings of Jay Shah’s companies, Goyal said Shah carries out “fully legitimate and lawful business”.
On the sudden spiking in Temple Enterprise’s turnover to Rs 80 crore, Goyal said that the firm was dealing in agri-commodities in which there is “high volume and high value but low profit margin”.
“So even if you do just a few transactions, the volume becomes very high. Rs 80 crore is not a large turnover in commodity business,” he said.
On loans taken from KIFS Financial Services owned by Rajesh Khandwala, Goyal said that normally banks do not extend loans to new and small companies and hence the loan was taken from registered NBFC KIFS on “commercial rates and commercial considerations” and has been repaid with interest.
He said that the Kalupur Commercial Cooperative Bank did not give a loan of Rs 25 crore to Kusum Finserve but gave only a Letter of Credit (LC) on security.
“In addition, 10 per cent cash margin was given and apart from that property of Amit Shah and office premises of Kusum Finserve were also mortgaged for this LC facility,” Goyal said.
On the loan given by IREDA, he said it is engaged in commercial lending to promote renewable energy in the country” and has “already given more than 2,000 loans and sanctioned over Rs 50,000 crore.”
“This is malicious and deplorable effort to try and attribute motives. We thoroughly reject all these baseless allegations.”
Jay Shah in his statement said that the “highly slanted” article had damaged his reputation and law suits will be filed at Ahmedabad, where he stayed.
“My businesses are fully legitimate and conducted in a lawful manner on commercial lines which is reflected in my tax records and are through banking transactions. I had taken loans either from NBFC or Non Funded Credit Finance Facilities from Cooperative Banks on purely commercial terms strictly in accordance with the law.”
Sibal later countered Goyal and asked if it was right for him as a minister to defend Jay Shah.
“Why is Piyush Goyal, being a minister, defending Shah? He can defend the government. Does he (Goyal) keep talking to Jay Shah. Is there so much closeness?”
He also countered Goyal over his charges on the Dhingra commission report that probed land deals of Congress presdent Sonia Gandhis’s son-in-law and said it was BJP-ruled Haryana Government which did not want to put the report in the public domain.
Sibal said the party had not said anything malicious and was only seeking information on Jay Shah’s deals.
He also said that details should be given of goods and equipment “hypothecated against the loan”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Sitaram Yechury
Kolkata : Describing as “unthinkable” and “painful” the lynching of two persons in West Bengal for transporting cows in pick-up vans, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday blamed the “competitive communalism” of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP for such happenings.
“It’s unthinkable that such things can happen in West Bengal,” Yechury told media persons here.
The two victims – Hafizul Sheikh and Anwar Hussain – were beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of cattle smuggling on Sunday at Jharsalboni area near Dhupguri in north Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.
“I find it painful… this is a result of the competitive communalism of the Trinamool and the BJP in order to bring about a communal polarisation,” he said.
Yechury also castigated the Trinamool government for barring immersion of Durga puja idols on the Ashura or the 10th day of Muharram – October 1.
“It is only aimed at appeasing minorities. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party is stoking majority communalism,” he said.
Banerjee has announced that the Durga Puja immersion would be allowed on Dussehra/Dashami, September 30, but not on October 1 as Muslims would observe Ashura, a day of mourning in the month of Muharram on that day. However, the immersions would be resume on October 2 and could take place till October 4.
Yechury said instead of “differentiating and interfering”, the state government should facilitate meetings of the leaders of the two communities so that they could find a solution themselves.
“They took a similar decision last year. These decisions are only allowing the BJP to grow,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Hailing the Supreme Court verdict on triple talaq, the CPI-M has alleged that the BJP was trying to impose a uniform civil code on people.
“The BJP is trying to utilise the arguments against triple talaq as grounds for imposing a uniform civil code,” an editorial in the CPI-M journal People’s Democracy said. “This is a deliberate misreading of the verdict.
“The majority judgment was clear that it is only addressing talaq-e-bidat and not all forms of talaq under Muslim personal law.
“The court did not accept the arguments of the Attorney General representing the central government to widen the scope of the court intervention to other aspects of divorce under Muslim personal law.”
A five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down instant triple talaq as illegal and violative of the rights of Muslim women.
“This majority verdict by 3 to 2 is a victory for Muslim women who have suffered under the arbitrary use of talaq-e-bidat which is instant talaq,” the Communist Party of India-Marxist said.
Amongst the majority of three, two of the judges argued that instant triple talaq violated the fundamental right to equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution.
The third judge has said it was illegal as it was not sanctioned by the Quran and Islamic religious practice.
“The stance of the two judges in the minority that personal law is protected under the Constitution and therefore immune to the equality test is regressive and contrary to the secular principle,” the editorial said.
“What is required is to work for equal rights for women within each religious community and to get reforms undertaken in this direction. Uniformity is not equality.
“And a uniform civil code is no guarantee for justice.
“The BJP government is not willing to have a law against honour killings. On the contrary under this government even secular laws applicable to all women are being sought to be diluted such as Section 498 A of the IPC.
“The Supreme Court judgment will strengthen the resolve of women to continue to struggle for reform within their personal laws. This applies not only to Muslim women but to all women belonging to Hindu and other religious communities.”
—IANS
