The Hindu : Front Page : Karat sees the need for a “Third Force”

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Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008
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Karat sees the need for a “Third Force”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said here on Monday that besides the Congress and the BJP there was a need for a “Third Force.” The Left parties would rally together all secular and democratic forces in this endeavour.

Mr. Karat was speaking at a public meeting that marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against the nuclear deal with the United States and to highlight the UPA government’s failure to check price rise.

The issues involved in the nuclear deal were complex and technical. The Left campaign would create awareness among people that the nuclear deal and the pro-American economic policies would harm farmers, retail trade, small business, banks, insurance companies and employees.

Countering the charge that the Left parties, by voting against the government during the trust vote, would help the communal forces, Mr. Karat said it was the Congress which had voted along with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1990 against the V.P. Singh government and also conspired to remove the United Front government led by Deve Gowda in 1996-97.

Reminding the Congress that the Left parties had been raising their voice for the past three years against violation of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), which was the fundamental binding principle of the UPA-Left coalition, he asserted that the Left would put up stiff opposition against the government in the Lok Sabha.

“The record of the Left Front in tackling communal forces is before the people. We do not have even a single MP of the BJP elected from West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, which are ruled by the Left parties. But take a look at Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and now Karnataka, all these States have BJP governments because of the anti-people policies pursued by the Congress. Our fight against communal forces will continue with vigour,” Mr. Karat said.

Without naming Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, he said the Congress had always retracted itself when it came to putting up a fight against communal forces. “It dithered in Gujarat, everyone knows what happened in Gujarat.”

CPI leader A. B. Bardhan said the Left trade unions have also announced their plan to go on general strike on August 20 against the government policies. He accused the Congress-led government of luring MPs to vote in its favour on July 22 by offering as high a price as Rs. 25 crore.

“We are against the nuclear deal and price rise on our own principles and consistent stand. We have not said that we will have coordination with the BJP. If somebody wants to have a dialogue with us, we can talk. The BJP also has a right to oppose price rise, nuclear deal and anti-people economic policies as well,” he said.

Protest rally

The next major protest rally of the Left parties would be held on July 16 in Chennai and on July 18 in Hyderabad.

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