Mumbai : CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become ‘Maunendra Modi’ due to his “silence” over corruption and claimed that agenda of the Monday’s all-party meeting, convened to break Parliamentary logjam, was not explained to him by the BJP.
The CPI(M) General Secretary blamed the BJP Government for the ongoing impasse in Parliament.
The veteran Communist leader accused the Modi government of indulging in ‘divisive politics’ and pursuing ‘anti-poor policies’ which he said have led to drop in living standards of people in the country.
The BJP-led government in Maharashtra is following the same policies as pursued by the NDA administration at the Centre, he said while addressing a rally at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai.
“Modi, who earlier boasted of rooting out corruption, is now silent over a series of corruption cases, including Vyapam, and charges against four Deviyan (a reference to Vasundhara Raje, Sushma Swaraj, Pankaja Munde and Smriti Irani), which has resulted in an unprecedented logjam in Parliament,” the Rajya Sabha MP maintained.
“Modi has turned into ‘Maunendra Modi’. It is his Government, and not us (Opposition), which is holding Parliament to ransom,” the 62-year-old leader asserted.
“It is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that the House functions smoothly. If the Government acts on what we have been suggesting (drop BJP Ministers facing charges), Parliament will function without any hindrance,” he said.
Yechury said that he got a call to attend an all-party meet convened by the BJP-led Government to break the deadlock in Parliament, but was not specifically told about its agenda.
Teesta Setalvad, a social activist whose company is facing charges of receiving funds from abroad in violation of norms, shared the dais with CPI(M) leaders at the rally.
Later, speaking to reporters, Yechury accused the NDA Government of ‘selectively’ taking up mercy petitions of death row convicts. This is why 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon was hanged while others were pardoned by the Government.
“Terrorism has no link with religion and it has to be dealt strictly. But there can’t be two parameters for delivering justice,” said Yechury.
The CPI(M) leader was here to launch a 14-day long protest organised by his party in the BJP-ruled states. He accused the BJP governments of being ‘anti-poor’, ‘anti-farmers’ and ‘anti-adivasis’.
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CPI(M) delegation meets Guv
Mumbai: A 15-member delegation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) today met Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and presented a memorandum containing various demands of the party. The delegation, led by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, met the Governor at the Raj Bhavan here.
The demands included implementation of the Food Security Act in Maharashtra and strengthening of the public distribution system (PDS), withdrawal of the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.
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