The CPI(M) has attacked anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare for his remarks that he will not contest elections because “ordinary voter does not have awareness. They cast their vote under the influence of `100 or a bottle of liquor, or a saree offered by the candidates. They don’t understand the value of their vote.”
Quoting these remarks in the party’s mouthpiece, People’s Democracy, the CPI(M) criticised Mr Hazare saying that “such utter disdain for the voter and contempt for parliamentary democracy is indeed disturbing.” The editorial titled “Contempt for Democracy Not Allowed” argued that “it is this very democracy that provides the space for social activism and hunger strikes of this nature.”
“Whenever there was a challenge to India’s secular democratic character, it was this very voter that upheld and safeguarded the vision of a modern India. It was this very voter that defeated Indira Gandhi’s emergency regime and reestablished democracy with such vigour,” it said. The CPI(M) also attacked Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal.