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CPI(M) not contesting for Vice-President

Staff Reporter

TIRUNELVELI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will not field its candidate for Vice-President, general secretary Prakash Karat said on Thursday.

It would go by the decision of the United Progressive Alliance, he said in an informal chat with reporters here.

While claiming that the UPA Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil would emerge victorious, Mr. Karat said the election of a woman to the highest office of the nation was not enough. The UPA had to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in education, employment and the legislatures.

On the arrival of the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in Chennai, he said the Left parties were opposing the visit, as “it had played an active role in the war against Iraq.” “Moreover, the ship has been used by the U.S. to threaten the independence and sovereignty of several nations. Hence the CPI(M), along with the CPI, will hold a demonstration in front of the Chennai Port Trust on July 2.”

Mr. Karat said the CPI(M) had helped form governments at the Centre and in the State (Tamil Nadu) to execute alternative economic policies, which the party had always been striving for. “Such policies alone can solve the problems of people from all walks of life.”

Mr. Karat was on his way to Kanyakumari to attend the party’s State executive committee meeting.

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