Break the fountainhead of corruption: Karat

Break the fountainhead of corruption: Karat

COIMBATORE: The Communist parties will carry out a campaign to break the nexus amongcorporates, politicians in power and bureaucrats in order to tackle the scourge of corruption, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat told journalists here on Friday.

Mr. Karat, who was here to attend the opening session of the two-day State Committee of the party, said everyone involved in the ongoing fight against corruption, civil society included, had overlooked the corporates-politicians-bureaucrats nexus. “This is the fountainhead of corruption. Unless this is broken, we cannot tackle corruption.”

The concessions given to a firm to tap gas in the Godavari Basin, he alleged, was an instance of such a nexus.

The CPI(M), the CPI and other Left parties would discuss campaign plans and make an announcement soon in New Delhi. “The Left has the credibility to carry out such a campaign as it faces no corruption charge.”

Mr. Karat accused the Central government of not being serious about the Lokpal Bill. “We do not understand why it does not want the Prime Minister brought under the purview of the Lokpal,” he said.

The Prime Minister, under whose office space technology came, ought to come under the purview of the Lokpal Bill in view of the ‘S-Band' spectrum allocation scam, in which the Indian Space Research Organisation was implicated. However, the Prime Minister, he said, could get exemption on matters that required secrecy in the interest of national security.

Mr. Karat was of the firm view that the judiciary should be brought under a national judicial commission rather than under the Lokpal. “At present, Judges [accused of corruption] can only be impeached and the impeachment process is cumbersome. A separate commission should deal with corruption in the judiciary.”

The CPI(M), he said, would carry out a campaign in July against the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, protesting the killing of its cadres. Mr. Karat alleged that Maoists had killed CPI(M) activists with the support of the ruling party.

“As many as 17 party activists were killed since the new government took over. We are planning a massive campaign against this attack on democracy and democratic rights and to demand an end to it,” he said.”

“No merger with CPI”

Mr. Karat ruled out a merger with the CPI. “We have only stressed closer co-operation between the parties.”

He called for the abolition of the below-poverty-line and above-poverty-line categories in the public distribution system and for the introduction of a universal system that would provide 35 kg rice to all families every month.

With food inflation showing no signs of coming down, the Centre, he said, must at least refrain from further increasing the prices of petroleum products further.

He called for the resignation of Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran given that he was being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation on his role as the former Communications Minister, in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.