LS POLLS

2024 polls to decide one person should not be PM: John Brittas | Interview

Predicting the fall of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, CPM’s Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas has said the main theme of the 2024 Lok Sabha election would be that one person should not become the prime minister.

Brittas, a senior TV journalist in Malayalam, said the BJP will not get the majority required to form the government. “That simply means other parties will be in a position to prop up a government. My experience has been that coalition governments have been much better in performance,” said Brittas in ‘What’s Your Point’, an interview series of Onmanorama.

Brittas was highly sarcastic when he said the BJP would not win a single seat from Kerala in the Lok Sabha elections. “The BJP is entitled to dream about winning all 20 seats. But in reality, they will not win a single seat. If zero is a digit, of course, they will get it,” he said.

Countering the overwhelming narrative about Modi retaining power comfortably, Brittas said he has tremendous trust in the resilience of the average voter in the country. “I feel this election is to decide one person should not be the prime minister. That's the theme of this election, simple,” he said.

The CPM MP said he understood from his Rajya Sabha colleagues in BJP that even they are uncomfortable with the way Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah run the government.

Asked about the extreme focus the CPM-led Left front gives to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in its campaign in Kerala, he said it is important to highlight issues of national importance in a general election.

Rubbishing the Congress’ allegations about a secret pact between the CPM and BJP, Brittas said the Congress leadership which runs the biggest recruitment agency for BJP was raising the allegations. “Let them at least protect Congress leaders from fleeing to BJP,” he said.

Brittas also exuded confidence that the Left parties will revive themselves in the ongoing elections. “2024 is an opportunity to revive ourselves and we will have a decisive say in the coming days in national politics.... Without the presence of the Left, we may not be having an India which we cherish. An India that runs on the Constitution will not be possible if the Left is not present in Parliament in large numbers,” he said.