Federalism in India under threat: CPI-M

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI(M) Tuesday alleged that the countrys federalism was under attack from the Hindurashtra proponents and liberal economic policies that exclude large number of people from economic development.

"What we have now is a combination of both economic exclusion and unilateral policy of communal offensives, which negates the concept of diversity in India," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in an attack on the BJP-led NDA government.

They also "try to stitch one monolithic unity on the basis of religious affiliation and that is where the greater danger lies", he alleged while delivering a lecture on Federalism - Scope and Challenge here.

"Instead of unifying the people, unifying their consciences, what is happening is just the opposite," Yechury added.

The CPI(M) leader claimed that as a direct consequence of this, the country was turning more and more pro-US imperialism. "India has virtually become a junior strategic partner of the US both (in) defense and economics," he said.

Scrapping the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes was a "direct consequence" of the country becoming a "junior partner of imperialism" where profit was the "main agenda", he claimed.

Stating that the Narendra Modi government was pursuing the new liberal economic policies more vigorously than the previous Congress-led UPA, Yechury claimed that in 2014, as much as 49 per cent of the countrys GDP was in the hands of the top one per cent of the population and this had gone up to 58.4 per cent in 2016.

Criticising the proposed bill for the formation of the new Financial Corporation Board in the country, Yechury said the bill envisaged a provision of an "insurance" of Rs one lakh for bank account holders for the deposits they make.

"Even if you have crores of rupees in the bank, you will get only Rs one lakh as per law if it (the bank) collapses. Protect the bank and not the people.

"These are all the direct impact of you (country) becoming a subordinate ally of imperialism," he said.

Yechury criticised Prime Minister Modi for not granting time to an all-party delegation from Kerala.

He asked the CPI(M)-led LDF government in the state to take the initiative to convene a meeting of the chief ministers of non-BJP ruled states to work out a strategy to face the "challenges posed by the Centre".

Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan presided over the event organised by the State Parliamentary Centre for Studies and Training as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the state Assembly and formation of the state.