BJP has lost morally, politically: CPI(M)

The CPI(M) on Friday said the latest Assembly election results showed that the impact of "communal, nationalist, jingoistic, emotional propaganda" fanned by the BJP is waning while the "grim reality" of deepening economic recession is coming to the fore.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the results also give a message to the Opposition that people are willing to vote against the BJP.

"The ground reality is asserting itself. This is the message to the leadership of Opposition parties. You better pull up your socks and get your act together. I hope the Opposition parties will take note of this message. For Opposition parties, the message is that people are willing to support you," Yechury told DH.

In a statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said the results to the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections and bypolls in states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Kerala and Assam, clearly showed that the impact of communal nationalist jingoistic emotional propaganda fanned by the BJP is waning.

"Both the Prime Minister and Home Minister aggressively mounted a Hindutva nationalist campaign. In Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena returned to government with a reduced majority. In Haryana, the BJP failed to win a majority. Having lost the government, the BJP will resort to its usual sordid horse-trading. The Opposition will have to get its act together to prevent such hijacking of people’s mandate," the statement said.

Yechury said the grim reality of increasing burdens on people’s livelihood with the economic recession deepening is coming to the fore. This underlines the need for intensifying popular united struggles on people’s growing economic miseries, he said.

Analysing the results, Yechury said people's livelihood issues and day-to-day issues have come to the fore. He said several people did not come out to vote as they thought there is no alternative to the BJP.

"But wherever people went out to vote, they voted more against the BJP. That is very clear all across the country. In Maharashtra, the BJP claimed they will win over 200 seats. Now you saw what happened in Haryana. They said the party will win over 75 seats. The point is that they have lost morally and politically," Yechury said.

He said the results in Gujarat and Bihar are interesting. "In Bihar, it has been a complete anti-BJP-JDU vote," he said.

On CPI(M) performance in Kerala, he said the party wrested two seats from the Congress but lost one of the sitting seats. "We will examine why we lost this (Aroor) seat. But the main thing is that BJP's vote-share has fallen everywhere in Kerala despite whipping up Sabarimala issue and all. Our victory in Vattiyoorkavu is a big gain as we were third in the past two elections," he said.

In Maharashtra, he said, the CPI(M) scored a “significant victory” in Dahanu.