New Delhi: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury criticised Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on Thursday, rejecting the accusation that the opposition aimed to create a north-south divide.
Yechury highlighted the unity demonstrated by Delhi and Punjab chief ministers participating in a protest organised by Kerala government leaders, emphasising the absence of such division.
At the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) protest for “protecting federalism,” attended by Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, and Farooq Abdullah, Yechury alleged that the BJP-led government sought to transform India’s “secular, democratic republic” into a “fascistic, rabidly intolerant Hindutva rashtra.”
“Modi said the opposition is trying to create a north-south divide. He needs to understand India’s geography. Mr Kejriwal is not south, Mr Mann is not south, Mr Farooq Abdullah from Kashmir is not south. Perhaps he does not know about the geography of India. This is not a north-south fight, it is for the rights given by the Constitution,” the Left leader said.
“It is the Constitution of India that says that India is a Union of states. Without states, there is no Union. According to Modi, you are going to have only a Union and no states now,” he added.
Yechury said the GoI wants the states to come to it with a “begging bowl” for their due share.
