Realignment of political forces is on the cards in Andhra Pradesh, as like-minded parties opposed to the ruling BJP at the Centre have decided to make a common cause and rope in more parties for a series of agitations in September to highlight the “anti-people policies” of the ruling dispensation.
The major Left parties – the CPI and the CPI(M) – and the Congress party in the State will take the initiative to bring together all the opposition parties opposed to the saffron party with a view to launching different forms of agitations against the “corporate-friendly” policies of the Modi Government between September 20 and 30.
This will prepare the stage for a broad-based alliance among the opposition parties for ousting the BJP-led NDA government from power in 2024, according to CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna.
“We will extend our invitation to all the non-BJP parties, including the TDP and the YSRCP in the State,” he said, adding that it was up to these parties to make up their mind whether to continue with their old stance of supporting the BJP’s agenda in Parliament and incur the wrath of the people, or to back the people’s struggles against the privatisation spree of public sector units, including the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
The CPI’s erstwhile ally, the Jana Sena Party, should now have to rethink on its tie-up with the BJP, which had allegedly meted out a raw deal to the State on various issues, including Special Category Status, Mr. Ramakrishna said.
Issues at stake
Issues identified for spearheading the joint struggle include the three controversial farm laws, unprecedented price rise in the wake of spiralling prices of fuel, Pegasus spyware, mismanagement of COVID-19 situation and huge unemployment at a time when people were struggling to cope with the socio-economic crisis due to the pandemic, he added.
