It’s is for the AAP to decide

At a time when the Narendra Modi government is trying to use fake nationalism and fake patriotism as a way to divide people, it is imperative for the Opposition parties to come together to see how they can stop them in the runup to the presidential polls. However, it is for the Aam Aadmi Party to decide whether or not it wants to join. Earlier, they were not keen on participating in the Opposition causes. So if they come onboard now, then other parties should not have a problem.

The AAP has not participated in any of the Opposition programmes till now. The need of the hour is for a consensus candidate as proposed by the Opposition to ensure that a secular voice occupies Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Hindutva forces, led by the Modi government, are trying to not only undermine the secular fabric of the country, but also weaken the very idea of India. Thus, it is important that the next President should be a person who has a deep commitment to secularism and the idea of India.

The BJP, or rather the Modi-Amit Shah combine, is trying to misrepresent the nationalist agenda. They have managed to create a division in the country on the basis on these issues. The recent ban on sale of cattle for slaughter is a case in point. All this is creating unnecessary divisions among people.

The Modi-led BJP has been using all tactics to intimidate and finish off the Opposition. It is in this background that the Opposition needs to come together for the presidential polls. The CPI(M) leadership has already taken initiatives by holding discussions with various parties regarding presidential polls and there is a general understanding to take on the NDA on ideological grounds by fielding a joint presidential candidate. So it is but natural that the AAP joins the other parties.

We must realise that the BJP’s sweeping victory in Uttar Pradesh, getting over three-fourths of the seats in the Assembly, was accomplished by a mix of rank communal appeal, through social engineering forging a wide-ranging caste coalition, and an unprecedented display of money donated by corporates. The BJP simply maintained its momentum of the 2014 general election.

Following these recent election victories, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the RSS-BJP has intensified its activities aimed at sharpening communal polarisation through various means. Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the RSS has been rapidly spreading its wings in various parts of the country.

The Modi government has indulged in the height of duplicity by hoodwinking the people of this country with its loud pronouncements of cleansing corruption, particularly in the electoral process. The agrarian distress continues to impose miseries in vast tracts of rural areas.

The NDA government has reneged on its promise of increasing the MSP to levels of one and half times the cost of production. Unless this is done, a mere waiver of loans even if it is implemented cannot be a solution in the long run to resolve the crisis engulfing our agricultural sector.

Look at the incident in Mandsaur: the BJP government had fired bullets at farmers! As we speak, farmers are agitating in the states ruled by the BJP. The cattle slaughter ban is yet another economic onslaught on the poor farmers. The writer is a CPI(M) MP from Palakkad, Kerala

The AAP has not participated in any of the Opposition programmes. The need of the hour is for a consensus candidate as proposed by the Opposition to ensure that a secular voice occupies Rashtrapati Bhavan.