Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said here on Sunday the RSP should shed its Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) tag in the State as it had become a stooge of the Congress.
Addressing an election campaign meeting of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency M.A. Baby at Kadakkal, near here, Mr. Karat said there was no doubt that the RSP had pre-planned its exit from the LDF. Though the leaders of the party had now adjusted to the policies of the Congress, the RSP rank and file could in no way adjust to it.
He said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had set a record of sorts in corruption and implementation of anti-people policies. This had led to unprecedented price rise in the country. Due to the strong interventions made by the Left parties, the UPA-1 government could not carry out its anti-people policies, he said. But the UPA-2 government had succeeded in implementing the anti-people agenda. The Congress’ 10-year rule was a failure in all aspects; it could not even create job opportunities for the people, he said.
On the agricultural front, the UPA government had done nothing but framed policies that ruined farms and farmers. The country’s commercial sectors were lavishly opened out to the U.S. Through the fall in prices of rubber, the rubber farmers had lost more than Rs.8,000 crore, he said.
Mr. Karat said Congress leader A.K. Antony’s statement that the Left parties would have no other go but to support the Congress was wishful thinking.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s plank was communalism and the protection of corporate houses. This posed a threat to the country and had to be countered, he said.
The Left parties are hopeful that a secular and democratic government would emerge at the Centre after the elections.
