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CBI, ED prepared shabby case against Hasan Ali: Bardhan

LUCKNOW: Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan on Monday said the Central government lacked the political will to bring back the black money stashed away in foreign banks. Mr. Bardhan said the recent Hasan Ali Khan episode smacked of a cover-up between the government and the investigating agencies (CBI and Enforcement Directorate).

Describing Hasan Ali Khan as a “benami” player, the CPI general secretary accused the ED of preparing a shabby case against him which resulted in the court granting him bail. Mr. Bardhan said about Rs. 72 lakh crore black money was in foreign banks, but no effort had been made by the government to retrieve it.

“The government has also refused to release the names of those whose black money was stashed away abroad by using the alibi of bank confidentiality,” Mr. Bardhan told journalists at the CPI's U.P. State Council headquarters on Monday. He was in the State capital to attend the two-day State executive meeting of the party.

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh owning moral responsibility for the appointment of P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner, the CPI leader said the fact that the government persisted with him showed that “Prime Minister was acting under pressure.” “Why was the error committed, governments don't run by errors,” Mr. Bardhan said.

With the battle lines drawn in the Left Front-ruled States of West Bengal and Kerala, which go to the polls next month, Mr. Bardhan said that despite the forecast of the prophets of doom the “anti-Left forces will not get a walkover.” Mr. Bardhan expected a keen contest in West Bengal and Kerala.

Referring to what he called a turnaround in West Bengal, Mr. Bardhan said the people had started realising that the Left Front was a better option than the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The CPI general secretary mentioned Operation Barga and the financial powers given to the panchayats, which have boosted the Left Front's electoral fortunes.

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