After 'notebandi', Modi govt going for 'naambandi': CPI(ML) Liberation on G20 invite row

Patna: CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Tuesday forayed into the G20 invite row, claiming that after 'notebandi' (demonetisation), the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was heading towards 'naambandi'.

Charging the prime minister with being "a mix of Hitler and Tughlaq", Bhattacharya alleged that Modi spoke of India being "the mother of democracy" but his rule has been "a laboratory of autocracy".

Addressing a press conference here, Bhattacharya asserted that the ruling BJP at the Centre was "rattled" over the opposition coalition moving from strength to strength and it was reflected in "President of Bharat" being printed on the invitation cards for a G20 dinner in the national capital.

"But the fact is, the post is called President of India. It is the post to which Droupadi Murmu was sworn in. If out of fear of the opposition coalition, the government is planning to do away with the name India, then it will be plunging the country into chaos similar to the one witnessed after demonetisation. It will be 'naambandi', a disaster similar in scale and scope to 'notebandi'," the Left leader said.

Bhattacharya, whose party does not have a representation in Parliament, also criticisied the government for convening a special session "without holding a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee and not caring to inform the opposition as to what the agenda is".

"Perhaps there will be no Question Hour and Zero Hour or private members' bill and all will be required to silently behold the gimmicks of the treasury benches," he said.

Training his guns at the Centre on the 'one nation, one poll' issue, the CPI(ML) Liberation leader said, "We had registered our opposition to such an idea when our opinion was sought by the Law Commission. The Commission, as well as the NITI Aayog, have already stated that such a thing is not feasible."

"But the committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind indicates the government now wants to impose 'one nation, one poll' on the country," alleged Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya also disagreed with the Centre's contention that 'one nation, one poll' was necessary to cut down on electoral expenses, claiming that "it is the BJP, the richest party in the world, that has been splurging money ever since Modi ascended to power".

"It is virtually the sole beneficiary of electoral bonds about which not much is known. The committee also includes former attorney general Harish Salve, whose wedding was attended by defaulter Lalit Modi, a comment against whom had led to wrongful disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi," Bhattacharya said.

"The claim that 'one nation, one poll' would allow governments to focus better on governance is also specious. It is the BJP which always remains in a poll mode," asserted Bhattacharya.

"There is tremendous public anger, because of soaring inflation and unemployment... Narendra Modi has been a mix of Hitler and Tughlaq. He speaks of (India being) mother of democracy but his rule has been a laboratory of autocracy," the CPI(ML) Liberation leader alleged.

He said that people will punish, in next year's Lok Sabha polls, the current dispensation which talks of 'one nation, one poll', by which it wants to achieve a situation where there are zero elections.

"After all, it is elections that forced the Centre to announce a Rs 200 cut in LPG prices, after having raised these to Rs 800 per cylinder," he said.

Bhattacharya agreed with the opinion expressed by allies like Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar that the BJP could go in for early Lok Sabha polls.

"We have started our preparations for Lok Sabha polls and given our proposal to RJD chief Lalu Prasad with regards to the seats we would like to contest. We will not disclose details at this juncture. The chemistry between RJD and our party played a key role in ensuring the success of Mahagathbandhan in the 2020 assembly polls, though Nitish Kumar's JD(U) was not with us at that time," he said.

He also rubbished speculations that he was demanding eight out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and the RJD wanted his party to contest Begusarai in a bid to "sideline" Kanhaiya Kumar of the Congress, who had contested the seat five years ago as a CPI candidate and is viewed as a potential rival to Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.