Mulayam,Karat plan to counter communalism

With the BJP pitchforking Narendra Modi as its 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign spearhead and the Sangh Parivar reviving its Ayodhya agenda.

With the BJP pitchforking Narendra Modi as its 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign spearhead and the Sangh Parivar reviving its Ayodhya agenda,a political churning of sorts has begun in the so-called secular camp. On Tuesday,Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav met CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat and discussed plans to jointly counter communal forces.

While a political realignment was not immediately on the cards,there was an attempt by non-Congress parties to reach out and take a common position on communalism which could lay the groundwork for post-electoral tie-ups. Karat told The Indian Express that there was a need for secular and democratic forces to work together.

Karat said he and Yadav discussed increasing communal activities in the country and how to counter them. He referred to VHPs Ayodhya Yatra and increasing communal violence in states,including Bihar. The CPM has decided to stitch together an anti-communal platform of democratic and secular forces to launch a political campaign. We are working it out and talking with other people, Karat said.

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Sources said the party could organise a convention or seminar soon in which leaders of the secular camp would be invited. Yadav argued the need to arrive at a common position on political challenges emerging in the country.

The CPM assessment was that the BJP and RSS have a role in rising communal violence in the country. The rise in communal incidents is linked to aggressive activities of the BJP-RSS combine, he said. Karat said he and Mulayam discussed the overall political situation,but nothing specific about a third front.