Date:10/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/10/stories/2008031059091200.htm

National

Parties condemn attack on CPI(M) headquarters

Special Correspondent

It will be raised at various fora: Karat

NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday said the attack on the party’s national headquarters here by activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would be raised at various fora, including Parliament. “Such unprovoked violence should be condemned by all political parties and such attacks can have no place in our politics,” Mr. Karat added.

“Premeditated”

He said the premeditated attack came when the Central Committee meeting was being held on the premises and asked the BJP and RSS leadership to “introspect” on the incident.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said support had been pouring in from various political leaders who had also criticised the BJP-RSS for the attack.

“Railway Minister Lalu Prasad called up senior party leaders and pledged to fight the fascist forces. Similarly, the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief, Chandrababu Naidu, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and leaders of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) have also condemned the attack,” he added.

Communist Party of India secretary D. Raja, who is in Bhubaneswar, spoke to Mr. Karat and Mr. Yechury on the phone and condemned the incident.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi called up Mr. Karat and expressed her condemnation of the attack.

Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily, in a statement, said: “We condemn the attack in the strongest possible term. The party demands that stern action be taken against whoever is guilty.”

Soon after the attack, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Minister Ambika Soni visited the CPI(M) headquarters and met the party’s senior leaders.