CPI-M Polit Bureau slams UPA on corruption

Kolkata : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Polit Bureau on Sunday slammed the ruling United Progressive Alliance government on the issue of corruption while accusing it of turning a blind eye to the alleged nexus between the Maoists in Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI-M concluded its two-day meeting here on Sunday, end of which party general secretary Prakash Karat briefing the press on the issues discussed.

On corruption, the Polit Bureau slammed the UPA government for its refusal to accept a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the 2G spectrum scam.

“Though the minister, A Raja, was forced to resign after the CAG report on the scam, the UPA government continues to adopt a position which will hamper the investigation and bringing of the guilty to book,” Karat said.

“The outrageous statement of Kapil Sibal who is looking after the telecom ministry denying the findings of the CAG report and stating that no loss of revenue has occurred, indicates that the UPA government wants to cover up the whole affair,” he said, informing media of a joint campaign against the government sans the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

“The spate of corruption scandals in the recent period — whether it be the 2G Spectrum issue, the Commonwealth corruption or the Adarsh housing scandal and the brazen corruption and land scandals afflicting the BJP government in Karnataka ? are all pointers to how corruption and crony capitalism have become an institutionalized feature of the neo-liberal regime,” according to the Polit Bureau statement.

“The Congress-led government has been exposed for not pursuing the Bofors case by the recent verdict given by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. The CPI(M) will continue to expose the big business?ruling politicians-bureacratic nexus which is the source of high level corruption,” the statement said.

On price rise, it said the UPA government is responsible for much of this price rise.

“For example the manipulation of export and import policies for essential commodities has fuelled price rise. Earlier we saw this in the case of both wheat and sugar.

“At present the current high prices of onions are also a result of such a manipulation. When it was known that adverse weather conditions are expected to affect the onion crop, why did the Central Government incentivise export of onions by reducing the minimum export price by around $ 200 per quintal.

“This accentuated the shortage while leading to huge profits for big trading companies. Subsequently, it reduced import duty to 0 per cent and prevented government organizations from importing onions, once again giving huge profits to private trade.

“Under the deregulated system, in the space of one month, the price of petrol has been increased twice by Rs. 2.96 and Rs. 2.52 per litre,” it said.

On the West Bengal situation, where the CPI-M is facing a stiff challenge from the Trinamool Congress and recently faced a flak over the Nitai village firing in West Midnapore distrct killing eight people, the Polit Bureau expressed deep concern at the continuing attacks and violence directed against the communists.

“Since the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 till January 9 this year, 365 members and supporters of the CPI(M) and the Left Front have been killed by the TMC combine and the Maoists. Of those killed, 125 are adivasis and 23 teachers in the Jangal Mahal (West Midnapore) area,” it said.

Dubbing the Trinamool as corrupt, it said the TMC-led combine is attempting to “reverse the hardwon gains of the people under Left Front rule, whether it be land reforms, democratization through the panchayat raj system or the establishment of a stable secular atmosphere in the state.”

“The evidence about the Maoist-TMC collaboration has come from a variety of sources. The book by a sitting Trinamul MP has cited instances of such collaboration.

Recently, in Cuttack, a Trinamul Congress leader was arrested for taking two injured Maoists from West Midnapore district for treatment to a hospital there. The Trinamul Congress has been demanding an end to the joint operations against the Maoist squads,” it said.

“Yet the Central Government turns a blind eye to this collaboration with the Maoists by a Union Minister and partner in the government. Succumbing to the pressures of the TMC, the Union Home Minister wrote a letter to the Chief Minister accusing the CPI(M) of having armed cadres and fomenting violence.

There is not a word about the 249 persons killed in the Jangal Mahal area because of their allegiance to the Left Front,” it said.

On Srikrishna Committee Report on Telangana state, the Polit Bureau said it discussed the reports submitted by the Committee.

“The CPI(M) has always maintained that the linguistically reorganized states should not be divided. The Srikrishna committee report has stated that the best option would be a united Andhra Pradesh providing for constitutional/statutory measures for the empowerment of the Telengana region. This recommendation of the Srikrishna Committee is closer to what the CPI(M) advocates,” it said.

The Central Government should come out with its stand on the Srikrishna Committee report without delay, it said.

On the issue of Hindu terrorism, the Polit Bureau expressed its deep concern at the revelations by Assemanand, allegedly one of the main organizers of the network which has indulged in terrorist violence through bomb blasts.

“The confession made by Assemanand before the magistrate has confirmed the links of Hindutva extremist groups with the blasts in Malegaon, Ajmer and the Mecca Masjid blasts,” it said.

“Significantly, the same network was involved in the Samjhauta Express blast in which 68 people were killed, mainly Pakistani citizens. The RSS, after protesting against the ‘false implication of Hindu religious figures’, has now admitted that such elements had existed in the Sangh.

“In a recent speech, the RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat stated that some of the extremist elements were asked to leave the organization,” the Polit Bureau said.

The Polit Bureau called for a comprehensive investigation to unravel the links of all such groups with terrorism and to take effective measures to dismantle such networks.