CPI today greeted Sitaram Yechury on being elected as CPI(M) General Secretary and expressed hope that both parties would be able to work together and strive for progress of the working class in the country.
"Warm greetings to Sitaram Yechury. We wish him all the best. We hope that under his leadership, CPI(M) and CPI would work together and strive for the progress of the working class movement in the country," CPI national secretary D Raja told reporters here.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the CPI's local unit here. He had earlier participated in a party meeting to felicitate all those who had worked for the successful conduct of CPI's 22nd All India Congress from March 25 to 29 here.
Raja said Left parties believe in internal democracy, elect their delegates and exercise their sovereign rights.
To a question, he took strong exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking about domestic politics abroad, saying he was on foreign soil only as Prime Minister and not as a representative of any political party or RSS.
"Modi should have exercised restraint and not have aired domestic politics abroad," he said.
Raja said CPI would hold a nationwide stir on May 14 against NDA government's move to amend the Land Acquisition Act as he claimed it would be highly injurious to farmers and "pamper" corporates and industrialists at the cost of ryots.
He alleged that the move to amend the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, was intended to damage its special features like the "social impact assessment and the provision to obtain farmers' consent".
This would be an important issue in the coming session of Parliament and CPI would oppose the Bill tooth and nail, he said.
Stating that the Prime Minister had been speaking a lot about cooperative federalism, he said it was ironical that the 14th Finance Commission had raised allocation of funds from the Central pool to states from 30 per cent to 42 per cent, while the NDA government was slashing allocations for various central schemes for welfare of the poor.
Both Raja and another CPI national secretary Dr K Narayana, who was present, demanded a high-level judicial enquiry by a sitting judge of a High Court from outside Andhra Pradesh into the killing of 20 persons in that state, "so that the truth will come out fully".
Narayana said no civilised society could accept the killings. The National Human Rights Commission is already seized of the issue.
