Left Front is not afraid of arrest and jail: Sitaram Yechury

ALAPPUZHA: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the Left Front is not afraid of arrest and jail and that Congressmen are the ones who are joining the BJP out of fear. He was inaugurating the election campaign meeting of Left Front candidate AM Arif in Alappuzha at Municipal Stadium.

"The Congress is asking why the ED is not arresting Pinarayi Vijayan. They should remember that Pinarayi was imprisoned for 18 months during the Emergency. If Modi retains power, the BJP will change the country's Constitution. The main enemy of BJP and Congress is the Left. This is an election to decide if democracy and secularism should survive," Yechury said.

"Attempts are being made to turn a secular country into a Hindu state. Attempts are also being made to eliminate the opposition. Congress should remember that the Left parties are also part of the INDIA front. However, the Congress leaders are lying by alleging that Pinarayi has connections with the BJP. Has any Congress leader publicly opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act? The left-wing policy is that citizenship should not be given to a person based on religion," he added.

Yechury corrects translator
While delivering the speech, Yechury corrected the translator who added the names of BJP and Congress leaders while translating his speech. "Don't mention the names that I did not say in my speech. I didn't mention any names. It is the policy that is important and not the names," he said.

EJ Jayan presided over the meeting. Minister Saji Cheriyan, CPM district secretary R Nasser, candidate AM Arif, MLAs H Salam, J Chittaranjan and others spoke.