I.N.D.I.A seat-sharing based on state-specific conditions, Bengal’s fight against BJP, Trinamool: Yechury

On Saturday, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury stated that seat-adjustment discussions in the context of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will take into account state-level conditions. He added that in Bengal, the slogan would be to "defeat the BJP and the TMC (Trinamool)."

Addressing the media on the sidelines of a CPI(M) meeting in Howrah, Yechury claimed that it’s “absolutely essential” to "keep the BJP away from controlling the country as a government", or exercising state power – "sarkar aur satta", to “safeguard India that is Bharat…”.

“The CPI(M) will cooperate with all forces who are willing to achieve that objective… and we have said this in I.N.D.I.A bloc meetings. To achieve that objective we must all come together. But how that will manifest in terms of electoral contests, that will be decided from state to state,” he said.

Yechury, mentioning Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Bihar, emphasized that each state presents a unique reality. “Therefore, these seat discussions will take place at the state-level given those conditions. As far as Bengal is concerned, the target (is to) defeat the BJP. But that will not be done by going with the Trinamool Congress. So, here, the slogan would be 'Defeat the BJP and the TMC'. And we will ally with all other secular forces who are willing to achieve this objective….,” he said.

"The national objective is to prevent the BJP from controlling both the government and state power at the Union level," he stated. "This involves defeating the BJP in Bengal and at the national level."

The CPI(M) leader, when asked about his party's share of votes in Bengal, responded by saying that the percentage of non-BJP and non-TMC votes, taken cumulatively, has not dwindled. "It registered a slight increase in the state’s panchayat elections," he said.

Yechury stated that commodity prices, especially food items, are consistently rising, and the unemployment rate is higher. 40 percent of educated young people, including university graduates and post-graduates, are unemployed, and many available jobs are for gig workers without job security, he said. He also pointed out that India ranks at the bottom in terms of per capita GDP compared to other G20 nations.

Yechury added that new public and private investment proposals have decreased, with a 72.5 percent and 79.2 percent drop compared to the previous year, respectively, adding that the manufacturing growth target under the 'Make in India' scheme, originally set at 14 percent for a ten-year period, only reached 5.9 per cent.