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“Left will vote against the government”

Special Correspondent

Congress and UPA losing ground among the people, says Prakash Karat

Prakash Karat

NEW DELHI: The Left parties will vote against the UPA government in the Lok Sabha, during a vote of confidence, for its betrayal of national interests, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Thursday.

“One must not forget that the Congress and UPA are losing ground among the people. This is the political reality. Our recent party Congress has made this assessment. If anybody wants to hitch their fortunes with Congress, that is their business,” Mr. Karat says in an interview to be published in the coming issue of the party organ, People’s Democracy.

Maintaining that the Left support to the UPA all these years had helped in isolating communal forces, Mr. Karat accused the Congress of having failed to check communal forces since the beginning of 2007.

“In election after election in States, the Congress party has lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Why is it so? It is because wherever Congress governments exist, their economic policies affect people and create discontent, and facilitate the BJP’s comeback. Moreover, they do not fight BJP politically and ideologically as the Left does. By pursuing similar policies as the BJP at the Centre, be it foreign policy or economic policies, the people cannot differentiate between the two. The CPI(M) and the Left parties will continue to combat the Hindutva and communal forces,” he said.

Nationwide campaign

On the future plans of the CPI(M) and the Left, Mr. Karat said that a countrywide campaign was being launched for explaining the reasons for withdrawal of support to the government.

“We will also explain the Congress-led UPA government’s pro-American and anti-people policies which are resulting in price rise and other problems, We will rally other democratic and secular forces who do not want either the Congress or BJP to be the only alternative choices,” he said.

The CPI(M) general secretary said that a “third alternative” must be forged through joint campaigns and struggles, based on a common programme of policies alternative to those of the Congress and the BJP.

“We have seen the experience of a formation like the United National Progressive Alliance , it will not last. A third alternative will emerge only when the Left and other forces fight on people’s issues and for alternative policies. It is a mistake to link such an alternative to some election or other. The field is wide open for the Left to take the initiative to gather other forces,” Mr. Karat felt.

“Government isolated”

To a question if the Left was isolated on the nuclear deal, he said it was not the Left parties but the government which had been isolated. “The discussion in Parliament in November-December 2007, in both the Houses, showed that the government is in minority on this issue. We have already asked the Congress party to go to people in the next election on this issue. We are confident the people will reject their stance,” Mr. Karat said.

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