CPM’s Karat slams business-politico nexus

Calling the spate of corruption scandals involving the UPA government ''a systemic rot'', Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat has reiterated the opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

In an article titled 'The spectrum of big business and politics in the coming issue of party weekly People's Democracy, Karat says, ''With liberalisation and deregulation, the entire (government) policy itself is put up for sale."

Lashing out at the big business-politician-bureaucrat nexus, Karat demanded that action also be taken against corporate houses which who suborned and bribed.

He raised a spate of questions on new telecom minister Kapil Sibal's moves - ''What is the need for an internal enquiry committee when already notices have been issued to 85 telecom companies asking why their licences should not be cancelled? Why is the minister not categorical about declaring that licences will be cancelled of all those companies that have adopted illegal means? Why is the minister stating that auction of spectrum may not be the best way forward?''

He further says, "Both foreign and Indian big business houses are free to make the highest bid for policies for an entire industry. Such policies can be changed overnight, if the price is right. This has happened most blatantly in the case of the telecom sector and is continuing with the liberalised policies in the power, oil and other major sectors."

Although widely seen as an obstructionist propounding a discredited leftist agenda, Karat's latest comments probably resonate with the current public mood.