CPM sees red over Ram Raj Yatra

The CPM on Wednesday flagged deep concerns over the VHP's "Ram Raj Rath Yatra" across the country, saying it is aimed at strengthening communal polarisation and Hindutva vote bank ahead of the upcoming polls in several states, including in Karnataka.

In a statement, the CPM Polit Bureau warned that there are "grave implications of possibilities" for stoking communal tensions, violence and mayhem through the yatra to retrace the route of Lord Rama to Sri Lanka, as described in the epic Ramayana.

"The VHP has declared that the 'main agenda' is to administer a pledge to people for the construction of Ram temple at the disputed land in Ayodhya even though the Supreme Court is still hearing petitions on this.

"It is also aimed to 're-establish' Ram Rajya, inclusion of teaching of Ramayana in school syllabus and replace Sunday by Thursday as the weekly holiday to observe National Hindu Day," it said.

"The route of the yatra proceeds through BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, spending nearly a fortnight in Karnataka where Assembly elections are due, then proceeding via Kerala to reach Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. This yatra has an incendiary potential to sharpen communal polarisation in order to strengthen the communal Hindutva vote bank for the RSS-BJP," the CPM said.

While Karnataka goes to polls in the first half of the year, Madhya Pradesh is likely to vote towards the end of the year.

There are also speculations that Narendra Modi government may advance the Lok Sabha polls to end of the year from early next year, though Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other senior functionaries have dismissed it.

The CPM has asked the central and state governments to strengthen the law and order apparatus to ensure that communal peace is not disturbed and the individual right to life and liberty is not violated.

"The Polit Bureau calls upon all secular and peace-loving forces to expose the sinister designs of communal mobilisation by the RSS/BJP," the statement added.