CPI(M) files impleading plea on Hindutva issue in SC

NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) became the first party to intervene in the SC hearing on whether seeking votes in the name of religion or caste amounted to “corrupt practices” under the Representation of the People’sAct. The party filed an application through its general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) on Thursday joined the debate over the misuse of religion for electoral gains, adding a political twist to the hearing in the Supreme Court that reserved its verdict on the contentious issue.

In its application for intervention, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury maintained that his party was also an affected party in the debate. The CPI(M), one of the six national parties of the country, became the first political entity to voluntarily join the legal debate in the apex court over the contentious issue.

Yechury also took the opportunity to target the RSS. “With the communal and fascistic RSS-led combine’s assuming power at the Centre, systematic efforts are on to communalise the institutions of the state, the administration, the education system and the media.”

He added, “The growth of majority communalism will strengthen the forces of minority communalism and endanger national unity.”

The CPI(M)’s late move, underlining its secular credentials and also seeking an opportunity to launch attack on the BJP establishment, however, faced time constraints in the apex court.

With the SC closing the arguments on Thursday, the party got limited time to place its arguments before the court. The SC is considering interpretation of section 123 of the Representation of People’s Act, which deals with “appeal to religious symbols for the furtherance of the prospects of the election” among other things.

THE CPI(M) BECAME THE FIRST POLITICAL ENTITY TO VOLUNTARILY JOIN THE LEGAL DEBATE IN THE SC OVER THE CONTENTIOUS ISSUE