Left Front Chairman, Biman Basu in a press conference held at the CPI (M) state headquarters in Kolkata today strongly condemned the barbaric killing of 25 innocent people in the riot hit Khokrajhar district of Assam. He said that the Modi and the BJP have been instigating the people with communal overtones trying to create divisions among people. After his communally charged speech in Assam, Modi is trying to provoke the same sentiments in Bengal. Basu on behalf of the Left Front appealed to the people of Bengal to be cautious of these divisive forces.
Biman Basu reminded the people of the recent communal remarks made by the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi. Modi, again in his rally in Bankura today remarked that the BJP would take steps towards cleansing the country of Bangladeshi infiltrators. But Basu pointed that in the past, under the NDA, there were no efforts made to implement the 1951 United Nations Convention of Refugees and the subsequent 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees. Besides this, the NDA government did not take measures to develop the ‘push back model’. Why is Modi provoking the people on this volatile issue just before the elections? Is it for ethnically dividing the unity of the Indian people for votes, asked Basu. He requested the Election Commission to take note of these speeches and take action.
On the links between the TMC and BJP, Biman Basu said that both Modi and Rajnath Singh have been mellowing down their attacks on the TMC. Both the BJP leaders were hinting at extending a handsome fiscal package for West Bengal. Basu said that these developments are evidence of a growing intimacy between the BJP and the TMC. They should come out and show their camraderie out in the open, he remarked.
Commenting on the issue of poll violence and the alleged biased role of the EC in the third phase of the elections, Biman Basu said that efforts have to be made to ensure that the past experiences are not repeated in the subsequent phases.
May 4, 2014