‘BJP & Congress change positions when in power’
CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat on Wednesday ruled out any electoral pact with the Congress, accusing the former ally and the BJP of “suitably shifting” their position on key issues depending on whether they were in power or the opposition.
CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat on Wednesday ruled out any electoral pact with the Congress, accusing the former ally and the BJP of “suitably shifting” their position on key issues depending on whether they were in power or the opposition. Speaking at a session of HT Unplugged, Karat admitted the CPM’s shrinking youth support “was a matter of concern” but blamed it on “the shift to a market-oriented culture”.
“The Left’s stand is consistent. The BJP and the Congress switch sides when they come to power… Earlier, the Congress defended itself on corruption while the BJP protested against the UPA government. Now, BJP is doing its best to protect its tainted ministers,” she said. Citing the deadlock over the Goods and Services Tax bill as an example, Karat said when the Congress-led UPA tried to push the bill,theBJPopposedit.“Now,when BJP is trying to pass it, Congress is not ready to support it.”
Mocking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “suit-boot ki sarkar” jibe at the Modi government, Karat said, “When the Congress was in power, its economic policies were aimed at helping the suit-bootwalas which is the corporate sector. And now it talks about the need for a kurtapajama ki sarkar.” Blaming the ongoing Patel community agitation in the Prime Minister’s home state Gujarat on unemployment, Karat also took on the government for a recent agreement between yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manufacture and market the latter’s herbal supplements and food products, terming it the NDA govt’s “worst kind of crony capitalism”.