No Difference between the Cong and BJP: Karat

PATNA: CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat Wednesday said there was no difference between the Congress and the BJP as far as corruption was concerned.


"There is no difference between the Congress and the BJP as far as corruption is concerned. Both are the progenitors and advocates of neo-liberal policies," Karat alleged at the inaugural session of the 21st CPI congress here.


"If the Congress-led government cannot live down the infamy of the 2G spectrum scandal, the BJP cannot escape the responsibility for the loot of the mining resources under its government in Karnataka," he said, adding that the rampant corruption being experienced was spawned by a big business-politician-bureaucrat nexus.


He said that the deepening agrarian crisis, suicides by farmers, exploitation of the working class, exploitation of natural resources through corrupt methods, and levels of hunger and malnutrition should shame any civilised society.


Stating that situation was vastly different from the last congress of the CPI, he said that his party withdrew support to the UPA government on the issue of its strategic alliance with the US which centred on the nuclear deal.


"The UPA-II government which came into office after the last Lok Sabha election has been pursuing the same path of neo-liberal policies which we were opposed to during its earlier tenure too," he said.


Karat said that the Left parties took up movements against price rise, issues of the peasantry, for food security and a universal public distribution system and other people's issues.


Claiming that the 28th February general strike by all central trade unions and national federations drew a powerful nationwide protest, he said, "we cannot be satisfied. The movements and struggles that we have conducted are not commensurate to the need to fight and reverse the neo-liberal policies.


"Let this be a precursor to more widespread and intensified struggles against the policies of liberalisation and privatization."


Attacking the saffron party, he said "where the BJP is in power, like in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, the minorities are under constant attack. The Left parties have to unitedly counter these forces and combat their influence in the social and cultural spheres."


He shared the dais with CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan, their CPI(ML) counterpart Dipankar Bhattacharya, All India Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas and RCP leader Abani Ray.


Bardhan said that the overall situation was favourable for launching movements by all sections of the people.


CPI(M) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said most non-Congress non-BJP governments were more interested in bargaining with the central government and bailing it out at critical junctures than offering any sustained opposition on the growing assault on democratic rights.