Press Release by Shri L. K. Advani
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)

Thiruvananthapuram – April 27, 2008

In Parliament last week, a stinking scandal has come to surface.

The Congress-led UPA Government began its tenure in 2004 with a ministry that included several crime-tainted ministers. Thanks to a spirited campaign by the Opposition and scathing rulings by the judiciary, several of them have fallen by the wayside.

Is this Government's tenure going to end with the exit of corruption-tainted ministers? The scandal that has come to light last week involves a DMK minister who misused his office to indulge in nepotism. Worse still, the PMO also has been involved in the scandal.

An MP belonging to the AIADMK has been made a scapegoat for the minister's questionable conduct.

The facts of the case are not at all in doubt. The DMK minister has admitted to seeking favours from the Government for his sons. And the PMO has written as many as eight letters to the Ministry of Petroleum recommending the minister's case.

I demand, therefore, that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh make a statement on Monday in both Houses of Parliament on this murky episode.

Left's campaign against price rise is hypocritical

Going by their public posture, the Left parties, led by the CPI(M), do not seem to be happy with the performance of the UPA Government. They want to show to the people that they are most critical of the Government's economic policies, especially with its failure to control prices of essential commodities. Recently, they held a protest demonstration and even had a meeting with the Prime Minister.

However, it is clear to any discerning observer of the Left parties' politics that their opposition to the UPA Government is only for public consumption. In reality, they are solidly behind the Government. Indeed, the UPA Government cannot survive in office even for a day without the critical outside support provided by the Left parties.

It is, therefore, necessary for the people – especially in Left-ruled states like Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura – to realize that the Left parties are as much to blame for the UPA Government's anti-people policies as the Congress is. The CPI(M), in particular, is an active partner in the Congress-led Government's failures and betrayals on various fronts.

The CPI(M) cannot be trusted to part ways with the Congress since it is now used to enjoying power without responsibility or accountability. For the sake of keeping the BJP out of power, the CPI(M) will continue to support the Congress, even while hypocritically showing that it is unhappy with the performance of the UPA Government.

At its recently concluded conference in Coimbatore, the CPI(M) has defined its basic political line as "non-Congress and anti-BJP". In reality, its line is, and will continue to be, "pro-Congress and anti-BJP". I appeal to the people of Kerala to realize the true face of the CPI(M), reject its hypocrisy and support the emergence of a genuine alternative to the LDF-UDF jugalbandi in the state and also of a genuine alternative to the UPA at the Centre.