Gujarat poll dates not announced to allow BJP declare populist schemes: Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury Friday attacked BJP saying that Gujarat election dates were not announced so that it could declare populist schemes for voters in that state.

Training his guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CPI(M) Politburo leader said he will visit Tripura, where polls are due early next year, in a week to assure its people of "good things to douse their anger on the non-performance of the BJP-led government in the state".

"But this time, his (Modi's) secret of declaring populist schemes before elections in the states to woo voters will be exposed in Tripura. There is resentment among the people here,” Yechury said virtually kicking off CPI(M)'s campaign for the Tripura Assembly poll at a public meeting here.

The Election Commission has declared the poll dates for Himachal Pradesh but not Gujarat. The tenure of the present Assembly in Himachal Pradesh is set to expire on January 8, while in Gujarat it will be on February 18.

Continuing his diatribe against the prime minister, Yechury said he inaugurated a five-year-old project in Gujarat which was unveiled by him earlier. "And, he is urging the electors to choose BJP for the sake of development! Recently (October 17) the BJP government in Gujarat announced to provide two free LPG cylinders to benefit about 38 lakh families, which will cost the exchequer Rs 1,650 crore. These are attempts to buy the votes,” he said.

"The poll dates were announced for Himachal Pradesh but not Gujarat so that the BJP can announce more populist schemes to woo voters in that state," Yechury claimed.

The veteran Communist leader alleged that BJP is misusing "political funding" to buy votes and the Parliament, the courts, as well as Election Commission are under pressure to support it.

"The saffron party has now brought in a new culture to form the government even if it losses the election ... Those who oppose BJP face heat from central agencies like CBI and the ED,” he said.

Opposition parties have often alleged that the central probe agencies are used by the BJP for political vendetta. Yechury said Rs 11 lakh crore loan taken by a few people has been waived in the past eight years of the Modi era. “This has left the country's economy shattered .... The country will not be saved if BJP is not unseated," he asserted. Leader of Opposition Manik Sarkar (CPI(M)) and party state secretary Jitendra Choudhury addressed the meeting.