The Hindu : National : NDA adopting double standards, says Karat

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Thursday, Apr 28, 2005

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National

NDA adopting double standards, says Karat

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI(M) general secretary, Prakash Karat, on Wednesday accused the BJP and the NDA of adopting double standards in their response to the framing of charge sheet against the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad.

``A common yardstick must be applied when charge sheets are framed against persons holding public office. We are only telling the BJP to apply to Mr. Yadav the principle they had applied when a charge sheet was framed against Mr. Advani when he was the Deputy Prime Minister in the Babri Masjid demolition case and George Fernandes when he was the Defence Minister,'' Mr. Karat told a news conference here.

He said a person could not be considered guilty merely because a charge sheet had been filed against him. "When the verdict comes, if he is found guilty, he will have to step down. The person must be allowed to continue in office when the judicial process is on," he said. The BJP's bid to deflect attention from the attack on Mr. Yadav at Vadodra in Gujarat with the boycott of Parliament would not work. "Everybody knows that Lalu is perfectly right when he says that certain political organisations were behind the attack on him."

Supplies `conditional'

Mr. Karat said the Left parties had communicated to the Centre their opposition to the resumption of military supplies to Nepal. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, had explained to them that the military supplies would be conditional and depend upon the restoration of democracy. The Left parties have made it known to the Government that it should do nothing that would send a wrong signal to the people of Nepal that India was supportive of the Nepal king's actions.

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