Congress Govt will not last if remains "indifferent": Karat

Khammam, Aug 21 (UNI) Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat today said the Congress government would not not last if it remained ''indifferent'' to demand for land by the poor.

Sharing the dias with senior TDP leader and former Minister T Nageswara Rao, Mr Karat also called for the launch of second phase of land stir in Andhra Pradesh.

He said ''more and more people will join the movement. Mr Rajasekhara Reddy cannot continue as Chief Minister if he refuses to concede the genuine demands of the people.'' Unveiling a monument in memory of the seven people killed in police firing at Mudigonda, Mr Karat alleged that there was no change in the Government's attitude even after the ''unfortunate'' police firing at Mudigonda.

He said the Left would spearhead a relentless struggle till the government conceded their demands, which included appointment of a Land Commission, distribution of cultivable land and house sites to the poor.

''If the government wants to use police and put you in jail we will be with you'' Mr Karat said to cheering activists.

He alleged that the ''corrupt'' Congress government was giving large tracts of land to the big corporates, both domestic and foreign, at a throw away price.

''If big landlords were enemies of the poor earlier, now it is the big corporates and multinational corporations, who are grabbing those land which have to be distributed to the poor'', he alleged.

The meeting was attended by CPI State Secretary K Narayana.

UNI