Opposition show of strength in Bengaluru on Sept 5

Bengaluru will see the next show of strength by the Opposition on September 5 when the Left parties organise a conference on saving the “composite culture” of the country.

The conference being organised by the CPI(M) and the CPI will be attended by “all secular parties” and could be seen as a follow-up to the ‘Save Composite Culture Conference’ called by dissident JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury will be among the attendees.

A senior Left leader told DH that top leaders of all parties were expected to attend the conference and highlight the “threats” posed by the Sangh Parivar.

The Opposition getting together in Karnataka on a single platform comes against the backdrop of the state facing Assembly elections in April-May next year though nobody is saying that it will herald a united fight.

The conference is also likely to highlight the rising instances of communal violence in Karnataka. Out of the 296 communal incidents reported in the country until May this year, Karnataka accounted for 36 incidents after Uttar Pradesh, which saw 60 skirmishes. Sixteen people were killed and 151 others injured in communal incidents in UP while three people lost their lives and 93 others were wounded in Karnataka.

The Left leader also pointed to the controversy surrounding the Bababudangiri shrine in Chikkamagaluru district, saying all efforts are being made to create “communal polarisation” in the state.

Yadav himself had said that he would take the conference to cities like Indore, Patna and Nagpur. A joint meeting of the Opposition also decided to organise programmes in cities other than Delhi.

The leader, however, said such conferences alone would not work and what was needed was a people’s struggle at the grassroots. “An alternative narrative against Narendra Modi can be built only through people’s struggle,” he said.