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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New Delhi (PTI): The much-awaited decision about the new chief minister of Delhi will be made in the BJP legislature party meeting to be held at the party's Delhi unit office on Wednesday evening.

The BJP has come to power after 26 years, defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls.

Preparations were complete for the legislature party meeting that is expected to begin around 7 pm at Delhi BJP office, the party leaders said.

The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly who will become the chief minister.

The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister after being chosen by the party MLAs will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power.

Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for a grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government at Ramleela Ground on Thursday afternoon.

Around 50,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and the chief minister of NDA ruled states among other guests, will attend the ceremony.

The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal; former Delhi BJP presidents Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay; and other leaders such as Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta and Shikha Rai.

The names of Ravinder Indraj Singh, the MLA from Bawana (SC) seat, and Kailash Gangwal, who won the Madipur (SC) seat for the BJP for the first time, are also being discussed.

Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister, a strategy the party opted for in Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.