My party playing true opposition: Brinda

Bhopal, Jan 11: CPI (M) Politburo member Brinda Karat on Friday said her party was playing the role of true opposition in Parliament instead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “The BJP has remained a mute spectator to public welfare related issues and matters concerning weaker sections. On the other hand, the CPI (M) had been continuously raising these issues,” Ms Karat told a 'Meet the Press' programme organised at central press club here.

She said the Left parties had opposed vociferously to matters such as implementation of the Essential Commodities Act and rise in prices in view of privatisation of essential services. However, the BJP had maintained a studded silence. The CPI (M) had been raising issues pertaining public especially weaker sections besides strongly opposing fraud in the name of Below Poverty Line (BPL). The BPL list had raised a serious question about who was poor.

Citing a survey report, Ms Karat said about 83 crore population was able to spend less than Rs 20 per day. However, the list of BPL families consisted names of about six crore families. Considering that each family had five members on an average, total BPL population came to about 25-30 crore only. She pointed out that several families were not getting the benefit of ration and medicines at concessional rates as their names were not included in the BPL list. The CPI (M) leader said the Centre had formed a committee to look into the matter under constant pressure from the Left. However, it had proved to be ''Birbal ki Kichadi (futile exercise). She rejected the possibility of mid-term polls in the country due to the opposition by Left parties over the Indo-US nuclear deal. ''We never spoke about mid-term polls. Lots of speculations had been made in this regard due to politics but were later pulled back,'' she added. She said Left parties and the UPA had formed a committee to look into the deal. The Left would take a decision regarding its standpoint after the Centre presented its side.