There is a definite place for the non-BJP and non-Congress political grouping in the nation's politics in spite of a “sinister design” by vested interests to create an impression that politics in the country is polarised between the Congress and the BJP, Communist Party of India (CPI) national council secretary D. Raja said here on Sunday.
“India cannot be represented by a few political parties. The projection that India can be ruled only by the Congress or the BJP is aimed at undermining the Left and other regional parties,” Mr. Raja told The Hindu in an interview.
He said the CPI's 21st national congress in Patna between March 27 and 31 in 2012 intended to do a critical study of the political situation and provide an alternative arrangement, taking into consideration the deep crisis in which the Congress-led UPA had been caught.
“In fact, by default, the UPA government is continuing in office. The so-called principal opposition BJP is in disarray and trying to come back to power by default. In such a situation, an alternative in terms of socio-economic policies can be provided only by the Left.”
Mr. Raja said the country's economy was in a pathetic state, with the industrial and manufacturing sector going into decline, agriculture wallowing in chaos and the service sector seeing retrenchment of workers.
“Though it is part of the global economic crisis, India could withstand the crisis in the beginning because of its strong public sector. But the UPA government is refusing to draw any lessons and continues to pursue the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode which, in reality, is privatisation,” he said.
There was no mid-term review of the economy and there was no mid-course correction.
“The UPA has failed to curb inflation and rising prices. Frequent hikes in the prices of petroleum products have had a cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities. In this context, the Planning Commission's definition of below poverty line BPL is ridiculous. Does [the Plan panel vice-chairman) Montek Singh Ahluwalia think that a person in Delhi can run his life by earning Rs. 32 a day? The Planning Commission is cut off from the realities of the country,” he said.
The CPI had given a call for a nation-wide hunger strike on October 21 to highlight issues such as corruption and spiralling prices of essential commodities.
Mr. Raja also demanded that the Lokpal Bill be passed in the winter session of Parliament.
