Says democracy in peril under Modi rule

The country needs electoral reforms for proportional representation of all sections in Parliament, National Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) D. Raja, MP, has said. Leading a political discussion on ‘67 years of Indian Parliament’ here on Friday, he said democracy should be dynamic, not stagnant.

“In order to ensure a level-playing field to all parties and to ensure free and fair elections, there should be electoral reforms,” he said. Criticising the electoral bonds, which ensured non-disclosure of the identity of the donor, Mr. Raja said the State should fund the elections. There should be curbs on corporate funding for polls. The Indrajit Gupta Commission had long back recommended for State funding of polls, he said.

Democracy was in peril under the Narendra Modi rule, Mr. Raja noted.

He said the five-year rule by the NDA pushed the economy into a tailspin. The country was seeing unprecedented inequality.

“All sectors, including industry, farming, small- and medium- scale industries sectors are in distress. There is no investment coming into the country and unemployment is at an all-time high.”

The Modi government did not want to discuss anything related to the common man. The government was committed only to corporates and big businessmen.

Fear psychosis

“If you question any of the government policies you will be labelled as urban Maoists. The Bharatiya Janata Party government is trying to create a fear psychosis among people and are trying to intimidate them. Sedition charges have been slapped on students, writers, and activists. We are facing a situation in which all democratic institutions and even Parliament itself is undermined,” he said.

Quoting B.R. Ambedkar, Mr. Raja said: “If Hindu Rashtra becomes a reality in India, it will be a calamity.”

Condemning the mob lynching incidents against Dalits, Muslims, and Christians, Mr. Raja said actually they were lynching the Constitution.The BJP is trying to create a one-religion, one-party and even one-election country.