Oppn must inspire confidence that its goal is to save Constitution: Brinda Karat

Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Tuesday said the opposition parties should "give confidence" to people that they have come together to save the country and Constitution from the "assault" of the BJP and RSS.

Speaking at a press conference here, she also claimed that the real allies of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance were the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department.

Asked whether the opposition unity will be strong enough to take on the BJP in the 2024 elections with local politics also being an issue, Karat said not only the opposition parties but social forces and social movements across the political and social spectrum needed to unite "to prevent the destruction of the secular democratic India."

"As there are different political configurations in each and every state, this exercise has to be primarily done at the level of the state....at the national level, we should give confidence that we have a common goal of saving India and the Constitution of India from the assault of the BJP-RSS," she said.

Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi's jibe that for the opposition family came first and the nation second, Karat said for Modi and the BJP, it was "power first, principles and people second".

Half the people who attended the NDA allies' meeting were defectors, and "they were defectors courtesy of the ED, CBI and IT department," she alleged.

She also asked why prime minister Modi was `silent' on the ongoing violence in Manipur.

On the political situation in Maharashtra, the CPM leader said the people against whom the BJP had levelled corruption allegations were now the party's closest allies, which exposes its hypocrisy.

On the Uniform Civil Code, she said it was in reality the "uniform communal code" of the BJP's electoral agenda.

The 21st law commission had suggested amendments in personal laws with discussions with community leaders but the government did not want to act on these suggestions because of its communal agenda, Karat said.

The law commision had said that at the present juncture the UCC was neither desirable nor necessary, she said.