The Hindu : National : Citing Banerjee report during polls not wrong: CPI (M)

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Friday, Jan 21, 2005

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Citing Banerjee report during polls not wrong: CPI (M)

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 20. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today defended the citing of the Justice U.C. Banerjee Committee report on Godhra train carnage during the elections since it was a public document.

Responding to questions on the observation by the Chief Election Commissioner, T.S. Krishnamurthy, expressing displeasure over the way political parties were using the report, the party Polit Bureau member, Prakash Karat, sought to know what was wrong with using a probe report so long as it was not used to stoke communal passions. The Election Commission should not take any stand trying to remove politics from elections. ``You cannot separate politics from elections,'' he said.

On Opposition criticism about the timing of the report, another Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, said that while granting extension to the Banerjee Committee, the Union Cabinet had asked it to submit an Interim Report by January 15.

He said the report was a document anyone could put to use and the action could not be faulted just because the report was ``difficult for some [political parties].''

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