CPI(M) flag.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: Communist Party of India (Marxist) polit bureau member U Vasuki said on Sunday that the “unethical alliance” between corporates and communalists was the root cause of all problems in the country.
“We need to sharpen our weapons, but these are not knives or sickles. The idea to resist exploitation is a weapon. Idea to challenge status quo and claim our own rights and dignity is a weapon,” she said, speaking during the state-level Janadhani rally organised by CPI(M) Karnataka state committee that saw attendance of masses from across the state.
She slammed the Modi-led NDA government for replacing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act.
“Right from its inception, the Modi government is destroying Rural Employment Act, and this is the last nail in the coffin. They are using Lord Ram’s name to sell their bogus product. For Sangh Parivar, Ram’s name is the Unique Selling Point (USP). By latest changes, the basic point of guarantee in the Act is taken away.”
Slamming Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar for pulling a lady doctor’s Hijab recently, Vasuki explained it contained the idea of inequality, adding that the views of BJP’s allies about women and minorities had been “exposed.”
CPI(M) leader K Neela said the BJP had proved it was “anti-women” by removing the MGNREGA scheme - a lifeblood to rural women.
The CPI(M) sent a memorandum to the state government comprising 20 demands, including opposition to the VB-G RAM G Bill, a demand seeking a minimum wage of Rs 36,000 to contract workers in government and private sectors and gram panchayats, opposing the privatisation of services like electricity, transport, water, road and the “assault” on federalism.
It urged the government to fight communalism, provide land rights to Dalits and follow the ‘Kerala model’ to strengthen public education.