YSR has to go: Prakash Karat

New Delhi, July 31 (UNI) The differences between the Congress and the Left parties on the two-month old Andhra agitation on the land issue widened today with CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat lending full support to the demand for chief minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy's removal over the firing in Khammam in which eight farmers were killed.

This came a day after Congress ruled out any possibility of replacing Dr Reddy in the state.

''Dr Reddy has to go and we have to carry forward our struggle there,'' Mr Karat told newspersons at the party headquarters.

Mr Karat said the next phase of the agitation would be announced very soon as the state units of the CPI, CPI(M), TDP and other supporting parties were engaged in outlining the next phase of the agitation.

CPI(M) senior leaders Sitaram Yechury and Nilotpal Basu also said the question of land in the context of present agrarian crisis has come to the fore as the most important issue, and reiterated the demand for the removal of Dr Reddy and the dismissal of the three guilty police personnel involved in the killings.

The Left leaders said the two-month old agitation which turned violent last week, resulting in the death of eight people, clearly demonstrates that the land issue continued to remain the single-most important question as it accentuated inequality and rural distress.

While the CPI took out a rally to the Andhra Bhawan here, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Dr Reddy in Hyderabad to review the agricultural progress in the state.

Dr Singh had announced a special package to bring the farm sector out of crisis and avert high incidence of suicide among farmers.

Talking to UNI, CPI(M) top leadership including party General Secretary Prakash Karat said the agitation would be carried forward.

''There is no question of going back now. The Chief Minister of AP has to go. He has become an epitome of state repression.'' ''We will soon announce our next phase of agitation,'' Mr Karat said in an obvious reference to the Left parties' meeting tomorrow to chalk out the agitation programme.

Addressing the CPI activists who took out a rally to AP Bhawan to protest against the brutal lathicharge and police firing on peaceful protestors at Khammam, party General Secretary A B Bardhan, wondered why the state government which had a surplus land of over 3.5 lakh hectares was not distributing it to the landless in line with the party manifesto and declarations.

Mr Bardhan, veteran Communist and freedom fighter, said the Andhra government instead of taking note of the people's struggle, chose to charge his party's State Secretary K Narayana with sedition and put him behind bars.

CPI(M) Politbureau member Sitaram Yechury and senior leader Nilotpal Basu said if the state government thought its ''barbaric police repression'' would help in quelling the agitation, it is under delusion.

Addressing the rallyists at the Curzon Road when they were prevented by the police from reaching the AP Bhawan, CPI senior leader Ms Amrajeet Kaur threatened to take law into their hands if the government chose to ignore their demands, including the dismissal of three police personnel responsbile for the death of the agitators.

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