Q: UPA II is coming to an end. How do you look at the performance of Manmohan Singh led government? There have been allegations that Manmohan Singh was not given a free hand with NAC on one hand and Sonia acting as super PM?
Brinda karat: I don't look at it from that point of view at all. It's quite normal for a political party and a govt to form its own mechanism for coordination. What did we see at NDA time? Everything was being decided at Nagpur. VHP , Bajrang Dal, RSS, Vajpayee ji, Advani jee, they were all speaking in different languages.
However, I do believe, this govt started without a common minimum programme. It was a govt which was an opportunist alliance of parties which had come together after a vote of confidence which was brought through black money.
And therefore, each of them had their own agenda. Their agenda was not India. Their agenda was not the people of India. It was an agenda to stick to power. And if you ask me have they been successful in any manner, their only success has been to stick to power and they have done it at the cost of the Indian people.
Therefore, in the coming elections, the platform of left parties including the CPI(M) is to be critical of the fundamental economic policies of the UPA govt , its record breaking corruption and its insensitivity to social inequalities that have grown in India. At the same time, we are deadly opposed to the communal platform of BJP and its allies.
Q: One important question is the functioning of our bureaucracy. The common perception is that honest and independent bureaucrats are not being allowed to fuction fearlessly. You have examples of Ashok Khemka and Durga nagpal. How do you look at it?
Brinda karat: It depens on the politicalparty in power. We have seen in recent history that regardless of the party in power, many honest officers have been prevented from doing their duty. What do you see in West Bengal today? You have a whole list of officers who want to get out of West Bengal today because they are being forced to work under the whims and fancies of the CM regardless of what the issues are and regardless of what the truth is. So there are so many bureaucrats who want to run away from Bengal because of the complete lack of any norms in governance and this is happening in other states also. I think it's very unfortunate.
