Brinda turns heat on Congress

Statesman News Service

MANIKCHAK (Malda), April 26: CPI-M politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP, Mrs Brinda Karat said on Wednesday that the UPA government which would not run for a single day without support of the Left Front in Parliament was not at all bothered to change its anti-people policies. “The nature of the Congress would never change,” Mrs Karat said in an election rally at Manikchak organised by the CPI-M-backed women’s wing where thousands of working women in unorganised sectors assembled. Stressing the need for the uplift of poor women in the country, she said that the UPA government should either change their policies or be ready to face the music. She said that the LF has been supporting the Congress-led UPA government based on particular “programmes” and just to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power again. “We will review the UPA government’s performance after the results of the Assembly elections,” Mrs Karat told reporters. She said that the Left Front government in West Bengal would not follow the theory of capitalism like Andhra Pradesh where thousands of farmers committed suicide. Mrs Karat equalised the Congress and the BJP on the issue of Bengali speaking migrated labourers who are working in Gujarat, Maharashtra, New Delhi and other states. “In the name of Bangladeshis, the state governments mainly the Narendra Modi government always tries to harass the Bengali speaking Muslim people who are permanent residents of Malda and Murshidabad,” she said. Criticising the policy of Central government she said: “The Central government is busy in implementing the Tobacco Act and spreading consciousness about the negative effects of smoking but not for the bidi labourers’ health who are suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases.” She also spoke about the local problems mainly erosion of the Ganges in Manikchak Assembly segment and demanded joint efforts from Jharkhand and West Bengal for solution of the disputed char lands’ rights. “The Central government should take initiative so that both the states can solve the problem jointly and the Central government should allot sufficient funds,” she said. Mrs Karat said: “Two Union ministers, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Mr Pranab Mukherjee were aware of the problems of erosion and speak about it only when they are here but not in New Delhi.”