V B Ganesan
THE CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state committee organised a special seminar titled 'Rs 7.5 Lakh Crore Corruption of the Modi Government, CAG Report, and Communal Hate Politics' in Chennai on October 19. Prof Venkatesh Athreya, in outlining the seminar's agenda, emphasised that under the corporate-Hindutva rule of Prime Minister Modi, the people of India are experiencing escalating hardships every day. He pointed out that the Modi-Adani relationship serves as a central aspect of this nexus. He asserted that the Modi government's primary objective is to cater to the interests of big capitalists, and they actively endorse Hindutva politics. Additionally, he noted that nearly all strategic industries in the country have been entrusted to the Adani Group over the past nine years.
During his speech on 'BJP's Assault on Parliamentary Democracy and the Constitution,' senior and distinguished journalist N Ram highlighted that no previous central government has operated as authoritatively as the present BJP government, particularly following the 1975 Emergency era. He underscored that every constitutional body has been significantly compromised in its commitment to its core principles. Even the judiciary has been found wanting when it came to protect the basic rights of the citizens. Human rights activists and intellectuals like Prabir Purkayastha find themselves in custody. Nevertheless, he firmly stated that, irrespective of their political differences, Team INDIA can unite to challenge and defeat the autocratic Hindutva rule of the BJP in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Speaking on the topic "CAG Report and the Diversionary Tactics of BJP," CPI(M) state secretariat member and MP Su. Venkatesan remarked that the present CAG who served as principal secretary to Modi during his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat, in his recent report, made numerous astonishing revelations about the functioning of the BJP government. The CAG report highlighted that the mission to the Moon costed Rs 600 crores and so also the cost of laying a mere 2-kilometre road on Earth costed the same! The CAG report suggests that every scheme with the word 'Bharat' has become synonymous with corruption. Venkatesan also detailed the irregularities in providing health insurance to the poor under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. He said that the government's call for a special session of parliament was merely an attempt to divert attention from the corrupt dealings exposed in the CAG report. Despite their constant invocation of Hindu religion, Venkatesan argued that their true aim is not spirituality but the accumulation of wealth and power through corrupt means. He emphasised the need to expose such corrupt practices of the Modi government among the public.
CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretary K Balakrishnan, presiding over the seminar, noted that the politics of hate is rapidly spreading in south India, leading to a significant emigration of minorities to other countries. The Modi government, he contended, is waging a clandestine war against minorities and capitalising on even minor incidents to fuel hatred among peace-loving people. He expressed hope that, just as the Secular Front in Tamil Nadu is preparing to challenge the BJP and its allies, the national-level Team INDIA will strengthen itself to confront the Sangh Parivar and its politics of hate, which should be uprooted from across the country.
