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Tamil Nadu
By Our Special Correspondent
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Karat said the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, apparently "does not understand the nuances of West Bengal politics". He clarified that of the over 58,000 seats in the three-level local bodies elections on May 11, only about 5,000 seats were uncontested and the Left Front had no opposition. "If the Trinamool Congress is not able to field candidates in 20,000 seats, it is because it has not been able to find them. The TC is on the decline. People are leaving that party and joining the Congress. The same is true in Tripura," he explained. Without understanding the ground realities, Ms. Jayalalithaa was ``making some sweeping statements''. Mr. Karat noted that on an earlier occasion, she had said that the Left Front was able to win repeatedly in West Bengal because of ``rigging''. "We have won six elections in a row, since 1977. The people of West Bengal will not accept such practices. If we have remained in power for so long, it is because of the people. The Election Commission, even during T.N. Seshan's time, could not find anything wrong in the electoral procedures of the State". Asked why the CPI(M) did not attend the all-party meeting convened by the DMK, he said, "Our position is very clear. We want the DMK to come out of the NDA. They cannot have the cake and eat it too. Opposing the BJP here and sitting with them in the NDA at the Centre will not help the DMK in playing a real Opposition role in Tamil Nadu. We cannot accept a contradictory position or a double stand on the issue. While we are prepared to work with the rest of the Opposition on people's issues, we are clear in our principles on the political plane".
`POTA must be scrapped'
On POTA, Mr. Karat said, "This is a wider issue. We are glad that opposition to the POTA is building up, even among the constituents of the NDA. We are not for opposition to just the misuse of POTA, but the Act itself. We want not just Vaiko to be released, but all those detained under POTA, to be released. There are other Acts and provisions under which they can be prosecuted. We do not need such a draconian law. POTA is as bad as TADA or MISA, and we want it scrapped". He said the DMK and other constituents of the NDA must first quit the alliance and not seek to legitimise the NDA even in Tamil Nadu. He wondered why the DMK was not willing to leave the NDA. On national issues, Mr. Karat "unreservedly welcomed" the Cabinet decision on disqualification of MPs or MLAs on ``defection''. Similarly, the CPI(M) also welcomed the move to fix a ceiling for the Cabinet's size — 10 per cent of the size of the Assembly in the States, and the sum of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the Centre. But the party would like more discussions on the issue to deal with practical problems as the case of the north-eastern States. It would be better to call for an all-party meeting. But, Mr. Karat, however, vehemently opposed the move to "change the character of the Rajya Sabha", by removing the clause, which stipulated that only those `normally resident in the State' should contest for the Rajya Sabha election from that State. The BJP and the Congress were now trying to amend this law to "legalise" the election of their candidates from any State of their convenience, he added.
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