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Left has to rally other parties for third alternative, says Karat

Staff Reporter

Kolkata: The Left parties have to rally other political parties in the country to counter the “anti-people and anti-national policies of bourgeoisie” national parties like the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and raise a “third alternative political platform,” said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), here on Wednesday.

Mr. Karat was speaking on the “Future of National Politics: A Left View,” at a seminar organised by the Students Federation of India — the student wing of the CPI (M).

The third alternative will pursue an alternative economic policy, a foreign policy that ensures national sovereignty and will struggle for a better federal structure.

“The global economy is on a path of long-term recession and in spite of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s assurances that adopting the United States of America-sponsored Wall Street model of economic reform will not affect India’s economy, the fact remains that we cannot escape the repercussions of the U.S. market crash,” he said.

Mr. Karat said the UPA government was jeopardising the country’s national sovereignty by establishing strategic alliances with the “imperialist” United States.

Speaking of the growing incidence of terrorism and communal violence, he said, “These are not isolated incidents as the vast gap between promises made in the post-Independence period and the reality have led people to seek fragmented identities for themselves.”

He said the Congress, in spite being a secular force, had time and again proved that it was unable to stand up to communal forces and terrorist activities.

“The Hindutva agenda of the BJP is fuelling the anti-national sentiments of separatist forces in the country as are other various external agencies.”

“The Left parties are strong defenders of secularism and we have to ensure that it is not diluted in the manner Congress has done, as it is a question of securing national unity,” he said.

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