Cong, BJP two sides of same coin: Manik Sarkar

OST Political Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 29:

CPM leader and Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar today said the opportunist Congress and BJP shed tears for poor only at the time of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and then quickly forget their plight after assuming power.

“Both the parties are now crying for the poor because the general and Assembly elections are approaching. But, they will forget them after assuming power. So, there is need for an alternative based on common policies to fight against these two parties,” said Sarkar while addressing the second national convention of Adivasi Adhikar Rastriya Manch (AARM) here today.

Sarkar described Congress and BJP as two sides of the same coin and are favouring the corporate houses and black marketers.

“The Congress has always been for businessman and bureaucrats; it has never worked for the common people. With the election approaching, Narendra Modi is now seeking votes stating that the party will change the country. Has BJP changed the scenario of the country during AB Vajpayee? Was there no price rise, no farmer suicide? Both the parties have the same economic policies, which favours monopoly capitalists. They are either side of same coin,” said the Tripura chief minister.

He, however, praised the Odisha government for successfully providing land pattas to tribals.

No other party leader uttered a word against the Naveen Patnaik government even though the state government has outdone other state governments in giving tribal land to corporate houses. The decision not to go after the Naveen government is being seen in political circles as an indication of a possible tie up with the ruling party in the state.

The left parties, it may be noted, had allied with the BJD during the 2009 elections too.

“Tripura government is at the top when it comes to providing land pattas to tribals. Then comes Kerala and after it Odisha. But, the Congress-led governments have failed to perform in this regard,” said Sarkar adding that the Centre must change its attitude towards tribals.

The CPM general secretary also attacked the Congress-led UPA government for allotting forest land to corporate houses.

“Following the neo-liberal regime, natural resources are being looted and tribals fall prey to the loot. During the UPA government from 2004-13, 2.43 lakh hectares of forest land has been diverted for various projects in the country. It also poses problem in Odisha,” said Karat.

Even though he did mention the illegal mining being in the state, he only limited his speech to tribal issues in the mining areas citing that the Maoists and corporate houses are taking advantage of tribal struggle.

He also attacked BJP and RSS for dividing tribals on various issues and trying to create conflict in the name of religion.