BJP still No 1 enemy of Left : Karat

New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) Enlisting three reasons for dubbing the BJP as ''Enemy No 1'', the CPI(M) today said the saffron party would have to pay a heavy price in the coming Assembly polls and the Left would go in for electoral understanding in and outside the UPA to defeat the communal forces.

''The BJP is still the number 1 enemy for its three hallmarks --the assault on Muslims and Christians as seen in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan recently, communialisation of education and retrograde economic policies,'' party general secretary Prakash Karat told newspersons here.

While releasing the 55-page Draft Political Resolution for the 19th Party Congress scheduled to be held from March 23 to April 3, 2008 at Coimbatore, Mr Karat said the threat of the communal forces still loomed large on the national political scenario and all the secular democratic forces would have to join hands to combat the same.

Answering a volley of queries, Mr Karat, flanked by party Polit Bureau members-- Mr Sitaram Yechury, S R Pillai and K Vardrajan-- said,''It is true that the BJP at the moment is ruling in eight states and is trying to stage a comeback on the national scene but its misrule in these states will not help it achieve the goal.'' Elaborating, he said the communal situation deteriorated had in the BJP-ruled states. Attacks on minorities, both Muslims and Christians, had taken place in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Karnataka.

''However, despite these communal, designs the BJP had not yet succeeded to rouse passions on issues such as the Ram temple or the Ram Sethu. But given the growing discontent and the economic difficulties of the people, the potential exists for the discontent to be channelised into divisive communal politics,'' he said.

''Due to the Left's increased intervention, the past three years have been dominated by issues of economic policy, foreign policy and people's livelihood,'' Mr Karat added.

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