'All sorts of tactics are used on political adversaries.'
"It is not that the Opposition is weak, the Opposition is weakened by the designs of the Executive," Communist Party of India-Marxist Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier in the second segment of a three-part interview.
What do you see happening if the BJP wins the 2024 Lok Sabha election?
2024 is seen as a clinched affair not by the RSS or the BJP, but by the Indian media who are now the torchbearers of Modi and the BJP.
I don't buy the argument. How many percentage of votes did they get in 2019? 37%.
It means an overwhelming majority was against the ideology of the BJP.
So, the Opposition political parties should be sensible enough to make sure that they make such alliances to defeat the BJP.
Is it because the Opposition is weak and divided that the BJP is getting stronger and stronger?
It is not that the Opposition is weak, the Opposition is weakened by the designs of the Executive.
All sorts of tactics are used on political adversaries.
So, it is not just the Opposition getting weakened. There is a deliberate attempt to make the Opposition weak.
How can you blame the ruling party if the Opposition is weakened?
No. Not all ruling parties do such things. We have had Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister.
Did we then come across this kind of mayhem unleashed in this country? No.
How do you explain the inorganic growth of the BJP? Is it because of normal political activities? No.
Opposition governments are destabilised, defamed and disrupted.
What kind of repercussions will this have on the country?
The country is already suffering. A country cannot be evaluated on GDP or any other growth.
Even there, the country has weakened. But the media never talks about it.
I am also worried about the social health or the social harmony or the cohesion of the country which cannot be evaluated by numbers.
Look at the political vertical of the country. How is the country run politically?
What is the relationship between the states and the Centre? We see a lot of fissures and skirmishes.
Look at the social cohesion of the country. There is a tremendous mistrust and distrust that has been built between communities.
Communities are divided on religious lines.
Many of the minorities don't feel safe. That is the social health of the country.
Now the economic health of the country. Take, for example, the trade deficit between India and China.
It was $48 billion in 2014 and now it is $100 billion despite the fact that you were trumpeting about Atmanirbhar and Make in India.
When I asked the finance minister about the trade deficit, she shied away from answering.
You are talking about Atmanirbhar Bharat, but the manufacturing sector has contracted. So, your slogan has nothing to do with reality.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
