Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 7 (ANI): Newly-elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), MA Baby, launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Central government, accusing it of 'neo-fascist' practices and targeting democratic rights.

Speaking to reporters in Madurai, he urged all CPI(M) units to mobilise mass resistance against 'authoritarian' trends under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat.

'This conference (organised by the party) has given a clarion call to all the units of our party, to organise all sections of people in the fight against the neo-fascist tendencies of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat,' said MA Baby.

He highlighted recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids conducted in Chennai and parts of Kerala in connection with the Malayalam film Empuraan.

'Tamil Nadu is a film-sensitive state, during the conference, so many great film people came and participated in various cultural programmes here. At the same time, in Chennai and certain places of Kerala, ED carried out aggressive raids in connection with a film - Empuraan. That film is not a political Leftist film or a film supporting minorities. That film merely depicted some historical facts, the communal pogrom in Gujarat in 2002,' said MA Baby.

'So, that film is being threatened, the artists associated with that film are very renowned. This means Narendra Modi Government is carrying our neo-fascist attacks against democratic rights. So, the number 1 call of the party to fight against this,' he added further.

MA Baby also praised Tamil Nadu as a model state for resisting the BJP's political advances and said, 'Tamil Nadu is a model in that. Here, the people, under the leadership of broad struggle front led by DMK denied BJP and their allies any seat in Lok Sabha. We have to develop similar arrangements wherever possible. So, this political struggle is the first task of the entire party.'

Notably, MA Baby was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the party's 24th All India Conference in Madurai on Sunday. (ANI)