BJP inciting religious tension, PM remark on Ayodhya dispute unacceptable: Yechury

Agartala: Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remark that the Congress had threatened the judges of the Ayodhya dispute case, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Monday the BJP government in the country was "inciting religious tension" to secure its vote bank.

The state BJP rejected the charges and claimed that Yechury was distorting facts and the CPI(M) has "mastered the art of lying". The saffron party was fuelling communal polarisation in the country by making "unacceptable statements", Yechury said.

On Sunday, Modi alleged that the Congress had threatened Supreme Court judges with impeachment when they tried to hear the Ayodhya dispute cases earlier this year. Without naming anyone, the PM claimed that the Congress party's Rajya Sabha members, who are also lawyers, had tried to scare away the apex court judges to ensure the hearing in the cases is delayed until after the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Addressing a press meet at Town Hall here, Yechury said, "The allegation that the Opposition was interfering with court proceedings is completely unacceptable. Modi, through this statement, has given rise to a fascism trend, undermining democracy in our country."

If there are any allegations of interference on the independence of the judiciary, that has come not from the Opposition, but from four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, the CPI(M) leader said. When a prime minister raises such allegation, it reflects "a very dangerous, fascist trend which undermines this entire Constitutional parliamentary democracy that exists in our country", Yechury said.

Modi has realised that the public no longer favoured his government and that was the reason he was indulging in "hate speeches", the CPI(M) general secretary claimed.

"This is clearly a panic reaction on the part of the PM. He has clearly realised that people no longer support his government. Inciting religious passion is the only way for the BJP to consolidate the Hindutva vote bank," he said. Reacting to the charges, BJP spokesperson Ashok Sinha said, "They are communists and should not teach us how to respect the Constitution. They want to replace our Constitution by the doctrine of dictatorship of proletariat. What he said against our prime minister is a bunch of lies. They have mastered the art of lying."

"I would humbly remind the communist leader that the judges had complained against the chief justice and not Narendra Modi. No other political party except the CPI(M) can distort the facts. It is an irresponsible statement," he added.

Yechury also alleged that Parliament sessions were being truncated as the leaders of the BJP-led alliance at the Centre did not want to be held accountable for their failures.

Talking about the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) feud, the veteran CPI(M) leader said, "The government carried out a midnight coup against its own investigation agency. It is like (US President) Donald Trump carrying out a midnight coup against the FBI in the US."

He asserted that the action was taken to shield the Modi government, which has "failed to live up to its promises made in 2014". The veteran leader, who was here to attend a two-day state-level party conference, iterated three slogans: "Defeat the BJP and its allies", "Strengthen the Left" and "Work for establishment of a secular government at the Centre", urging the people to end the NDA rule in the country.

On a grand alliance of Opposition parties for the next Lok Sabha polls, Yechury said alliances would be made at the state level, depending on the strength of the outfits. "The DMK is influential in Tamil Nadu, while Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have their bases in Uttar Pradesh. So, alliances would be made at a state level, depending on strength of the political parties," he said, adding that a post-poll coalition for the formation of a government was likely.