New Delhi: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat rubbished the talks of a 'federal front' and said, "... let those parties which are willing to come together on a common programme platform do so without that just talking about a front does not make much sense". The Left parties are scheduled to have a convention on July 1 following which they will come out with a set of alternative policies which they hope will attract other democratic parties on to it's platform. Karat also ruled out any future alliance with the Congress saying, "It is only to stop the BJP and have a secular government that at one time we extended support - that is a one time exception". Karat was speaking to CNN-IBN's Rupashree Nanda.
CNN-IBN: The political situation in the country is very fluid and increasingly there are talks of a Third Front - do you think that it is a possibility? Is a Third Front possible without the Left parties?
Prakash Karat, general gecretary, CPM: Well, we have always said that the coming Lok Sabha elections, both the Congress and UPA and the BJP and NDA - they are not going to fare well. And you have seen the shrinking of both these alliances in the last number of months. The roles of the non-Congress, non-BJP parties, especially the regional parties will be much more and it will be reflected in the Lok Sabha elections. As far as we are concerned, the Left parties are organising
10:29 PM, Jun 14, 2013
New Delhi: In the midst of churning in the NDA, the Left parties on Friday waded into the scene for formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP front to fight the next Lok Sabha elections. Senior CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury first met JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav in an apparent attempt to wean the party away from its rival Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress chief who has floated the idea of a Federal...
10:03 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Patna: With the Janata Dal United trying hard to play down rumours of its 'impending split' with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar invited BJP leaders on Friday to attend his weekly Janta Darbar. JD(U) President Sharad Yadav has also been refuting reports of the party giving an ultimatum to the BJP saying that discussions were on to salvage the alliance. Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil...
01:06 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Kolkata: The CPM on Wednesday dubbed Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's call for a federal front a "joke" and said her asking non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties to form a front for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be a damp squib. "This is a joke. Since when has she (West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee) become federal? She is a unitary. When did she stand for federal structures?" CPM leader...
12:46 AM, Jun 13, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held an all party meet on the Naxal insurgency. An all-party resolution against naxal violence and armed insurgency was passed at the meeting. The meet ended with the Prime Minister assuring full support to the governments in Naxal affected states. The meeting was held in the backdrop of the recent attacks in Bastar in which top Congress leaders were killed. Ruling out any compromise...
10:25 PM, Jun 10, 2013
While certain RTI activists have asked for political parties to come under RTI, almost all political parties are united in their opposition to this move. All functions of a party and minutes of all meetings can't be disclosed, they say. CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on why political parties should not come under RTI. Q. The other friendly CPI and strong opponent TMC have welcomed...
05:23 PM, Jun 06, 2013
Anil Bairwal, national coordinator of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and RTI activist joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on why political parties should come under RTI. Q. If RTI is implemented on Congress then we all know what would happen. In that case it'll be very difficult to help Congress rule India and hence RTI shouldn't be applied on Congress atleast. Your thoughts? Asked by: Ravi A. I think...
05:23 PM, Jun 06, 2013
Howrah: The Trinamool Congress candidate Prasun Banerjee has won the Howrah by-poll over its CPI(M) rival Sridip Bhattacharya by 27,000 votes. This, however, was almost 10,000 votes less than the previous TMC victory at the seat. The result in the by-poll is seen as the trust vote for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the chit fund scam hit West Bengal. The election has been necessitated following the death of Trinamool...
02:50 PM, Jun 05, 2013
Kolkata: The Left Front on Thursday asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to respond to allegations by a senior West Bengal IPS officer about "corrupt practices" when she was the railway minister. "Serious allegations of corruption have been levelled by a senior and respected IPS officer from the state. We don't to want question her (Banerjee) integrity. But to keep that image intact the chief minister must come out with an...
04:26 AM, May 24, 2013
Patna: Four days after the court acquitted former RJD MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on charges of killing CPI-M leader Ajit Sarkar, he was formally released from jail here on Tuesday, police officials said. Citing lack of evidence, the Patna High Court on last Friday acquitted Yadav in the case related to Sarkar's murder. Left Front parties in Bihar on last Saturday had urged the CBI to appeal in...
01:40 PM, May 21, 2013
Agartala: Normal life was paralysed in the municipal corporation area here on Tuesday in response to a dawn-to-dusk bandh called by opposition Congress to protest the killing of three employees of 'Dainik Ganadoot', a local Bengali daily. Vehicles remained off the roads and markets, schools, colleges and educational institutions were closed. Official sources said attendance in government offices, banks and financial institutions was also thin. Police said no untoward incident...
01:16 PM, May 21, 2013
Agartala: The opposition Congress in Tripura has called a dawn-to-dusk bandh in the municipal corporation area here on Tuesday to protest the killing of three employees of a local Bengali daily. Leader of the Opposition Ratan Lal Nath, belonging to the Congress, said on Monday that the killing proved that journalists and newspaper employees were not safe in the state. "This is unprecedented in the state as well as in...
01:59 PM, May 20, 2013
Kolkata: After two years of rule, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have squandered the overwhelming mandate voters gave her, but as West Bengal gears up for panchayat polls, it seems that the TMC has the advantage as the Left is yet to regroup. Rattled by the Saradha meltdown and a spate of suicides, Trinamool faces the uphill task of addressing cries of lakhs of anguished investors and agents. With...
07:59 AM, May 20, 2013
CPM leader Nilotpal Basu said both Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar should have been sacked earlier. ...
06:14 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: The Left parties on Thursday sought a court-monitored CBI probe into the West Bengal chit fund scam and accused the Trinamool Congress-led government of not intervening to check activities of companies with suspicious financial dealings in the state. Senior leaders of Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc met President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh separately and...
03:25 AM, May 10, 2013
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has sealed the offices of MPS group, a business house that has an estimated liability of Rs 17,000 crore and is under the scanner of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The crackdown comes after the collapse of Saradha group's chit fund business in April, which affected thousands of depositors. Panicking depositors and agents protested outside the MPS group's office at Lake Town...
09:58 AM, May 05, 2013
Kolkata: Continuing her tirade against the CPI(M) and the Congress over the Saradha chit fund scam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that the two parties had a lot to answer for and asked partymen to counter the allegations vigorously. "They (CPI-M) are merrily calling everyone chit fund thief. They themselves have to do some very serious answering about their dubious role during their regime," Banerjee was...
03:29 AM, May 04, 2013
Kolkata: The probe in the West Bengal chit fund case has widened its ambit to the previous Left government. On Wednesday, the police questioned the top aides of two former Left ministers. Sources said that the police questioned Anjan Bhattacharya, the assistant of former Housing Minister Gautam Deb and Ganesh Dey, the CA of former Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta. Sources said that the police were looking if illegal pay-offs were...
07:54 PM, May 01, 2013
Kolkata: In a fallout of the Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal, the state Assembly on Tuesday passed a new bill on protecting investor interests in chit fund companies. The Bill was passed with minor amendments in a special session of the Assembly. However, there was no amendment in the most controversial portions of the Bill, namely the definition of Competent Authority (clause 8) and Section 22 (2) which...
06:03 PM, Apr 30, 2013
Vijayawada: CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in Vijayawada on Sunday that the UPA government should reveal the names of those involved in the coal scam. "The government should reveal the names of the people involved in the coalgate scam. The resignation of either Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Law minister Ashwani Kumar would not serve any purpose unless names of the people involved in it come out," Yechury said....
12:14 AM, Apr 29, 2013
