CPI (M) Polit Bureau Member Brinda Karat on Wednesday termed as “pro-corruption attitude” the UDF government’s decision to release former Minister R. Balakrishna Pillai from jail by including him in the list of prisoners to be set free on Kerala Day. Mr. Pillai was jailed based on a Supreme Court order in a corruption case.
“This is an insult to the people of a State and a reflection of the cultural degradation under UDF rule,” Ms. Karat remarked at a Press conference here on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Ms. Karat called on activists of SFI and DYFI, who were jailed during a protest against alleged out-of-turn admissions into a government engineering college in Kozhikode. Ms. Karat said she was shocked to find these activists were not released by the UDF government on Kerala Day.
The CPI (M) leader also defended her party’s demand for the dismissal of Forest Minister Ganesh Kumar for his disparaging comments about the Leader of Opposition and CPI (M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan. When it was pointed out that the Minister had already expressed regrets over his remarks, she said a mere apology was not enough, since the Minister’s comment was about a man campaigning against sexual harassment. Ms. Karat was also critical of the allegedly “casteist” remarks about former Electricity Minister A.K. Balan by Chief Whip P.C. George.
When she was told her own party men had been accused of similar offences, Ms. Brinda Karat claimed she had no knowledge of any such cases but added she would never defend anyone involved in such cases irrespective of the political party. “CPI (M) has zero-tolerance towards such offenders,” she said.
It was also announced at the press conference that CPI (M) would organize strong protests if petrol prices were increased again. “No further increase can be allowed since recent hikes in fuel prices have had a cascading effect and triggered sharp increases in prices of essential commodities,” she said.
