Vijayawada: CPI State secretary K Ramakrishna expressed concern that democracy across the country is under threat. He described it as unfortunate that Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, a constitutional officeholder, is attacking the judiciary with his remarks.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Vijayawada’s Dasari Bhavan alongside CPI State Executive Committee member Akkieni Vanaja, Ramakrishna stated that dangerous and critical conditions, reminiscent of those before the Emergency, are prevailing in the country and there is an urgent need to address them to prevent them from taking a more severe form.

He criticised the Governors, alleging that all are affiliated with the RSS. He accused them of undermining democracy by delaying or blocking bills passed by democratically elected state governments for years.

Ramakrishna highlighted that the Supreme Court recently ruled against such actions, clarifying that Governors lack the authority to withhold bills. While democrats across the country welcomed this verdict, he said it was unacceptable for the Vice-President to criticise the judiciary over it. He also pointed out that the central government adopted a similar approach with the recently passed Waqf Amendment Act in Parliament.

The Supreme Court questioned whether allowing non-Muslims on Waqf boards would lead to similar inclusions in temple committees. Secularists and democrats challenged the Act in the Supreme Court, and Ramakrishna called the Vice-President’s derogatory comments on this matter shameful, equating them to an attack on the judiciary.

Ramakrishna described the passage of the ‘dangerous’ Waqf Amendment Act as regrettable, criticizing the NDA coalition leaders like Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, who he said are secular figures but

supported the bill, potentially fuelling unrest nationwide. He noted that the TDP played a role in supporting the bill and urged Chandrababu to take initiative to restore constitutional integrity during this critical time.