The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI have decided to launch a nationwide campaign against corruption in high places and the series of scams being unearthed.
The two Left parties have begun discussions with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Janata Dal (Secular), the Asom Gana Parishad, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal for holding joint rallies in different State capitals.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu held discussions here on Wednesday on the course of action to be adopted.
The leaders also condemned the latest revision of petrol prices and expressed concern over the cascading effect it would have on other prices and the burden it would cause to the common man. They would organise protest demonstrations across the country demanding a rollback of the hike.
Briefing reporters, the three leaders justified the Opposition's insistence on a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe, saying it would go deep into the 2G spectrum issue to enable stringent action against the guilty and suggest steps to avoid recurrence of such scandals. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was, however, refusing to order the probe for reasons best known to it, they said.
On the petrol price hike, the leaders said it was an assault on the people and result of deregulation of prices by the UPA government.
