Stopping BJP in poll battle not enough to counter right-wing forces: CPI-M
Kolkata: Stating that only trying to counter the BJP in the electoral battle will not be enough to stop the resurgence of right-wing reactionary forces in the country, CPI-M politburo member Prakash Karat on Wednesday said communists must take a leading role in uniting all secular democratic forces to fight the majority communalism.
Terming Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a well organised fascistic organisation that has been working to influence the people of various sections of the society, Karat said the Left parties must create alternative forces in those social spheres to counter them.
"So far we have tried to focus on determining the electoral tactics to isolate and defeat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the elections. However, we failed to understand that BJP is just a small part of the RSS activities.
"Five years back, RSS had nearly 40 mass organisations that worked in different sections of the society. We need to be able to counter these forces of the RSS. Stopping just the BJP would not work," Karat said here at a seminar on "Combating dangers of aggressive communalism in India".
"Our challenge at the moment is to counter a well organised power that is using the majority communalism and trying to impose its ideology on the entire nation with an aim to reorganise it as a Hindu state. Unless we can counter their agenda of Hindutva nationalism with our secular democratic progressive values, it would be difficult to stop them," he pointed out.
The former general secretary of CPI-M said the RSS is constantly working to influence the education and cultural sector and a section of intellectuals, while they are also working to consolidate the Dalits and tribal communities in the country by imposing the Hindutva agenda at the grassroot level.
He pointed out that "storm troopers of the RSS" like Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagaran Mancha are at work in these places.
"The secular and democratic people must transcend the party barriers to fight the majority communalism of BJP and RSS," he added.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
ALSO READ: Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
