THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called upon the general public in Chhattisgarh to ensure the defeat of the BJP and the presence of the Left in the state assembly. This will also put a stop to the communal politics of Hindutva and the anti-people politics of alliance with corporates and will focus on the basic issues of the people. The politics of people's struggle will get strengthened. BJP's defeat in these elections will further strengthen the chances of getting rid of BJP's mis-governance in the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Addressing a press conference on October 29, CPI(M) state secretariat member, Sanjay Parate said the country is in an all-round crisis today. Due to the policies followed by the RSS-BJP government at the centre, the country's democracy, secularism, brotherhood, constitution and constitutional values – the future of the country as a whole – is in danger. In order to hand over water, forests, land, minerals and other natural resources to the corporates, large-scale attacks are being carried out on the weaker sections of the country - tribals, dalits. The people of Bastar have had to pay the price for this in the form of Salwa Judum's attack on their civil rights. In the last five years, BJP has tried to create communal polarisation among the tribals and in this direction has made the PESA law a tool to attack their rights. It has always attacked the human rights and constitutional rights of the tribals as a community and their civil rights as individuals. Therefore, it is necessary to defeat BJP in these elections.

The CPI(M) leader said that Congress has also not lived up to the expectations of the people of Bastar. It has proved to be unsuccessful in taking action against those responsible for the violence against tribals during the BJP rule. The implementation of the Forest Rights Act is abysmal and the PESA rules are designed in such a way that they go against the spirit of the original Act.

Parate said it is the Left which is continuously fighting to protect the interests of the tribals, dalits, working people and the poor. Announcing CPI(M)'s support to the independent candidate Manish Kunjam from Konta assembly constituency, he said that Manish Kunjam has been fighting for the rights of tribals in Bastar since his student days. Due to this, there have also been fatal attacks on them. In this election, he is an independent candidate from Konta Assembly. The CPI(M) leader said that in the backdrop of continuous attacks on tribal rights, it is necessary to have a public representative in the assembly who can raise his voice in favour of democracy, constitution and tribal rights and against the corporate plunder of Bastar's resources, and Manish Kunjam is the candidate for this, who is capable of defeating both the Congress and the BJP. His presence in the assembly will help in taking forward the struggles taking place on the legitimate demands of the general public across Chhattisgarh. CPI(M) is supporting him in the assembly elections.