We want budget session to function: Prakash Karat

Kolkata, Jan 17 (ANI): Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat has stuck to its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into 2G scam but said he did not want the Budget Session of Parliament to be stalled on the issue

"We will stick to our stand on the JPC but we would also like the Budget session to be held," Karat told reporters after a two-day meeting of the CPI (M) Polit Bureau.

He said the CPI-M would be consulting other "secular" parties in order to devise a strategy for the Budget session beginning next month.

"Our party has discussed the matter; we stick to our stand that there should be a Joint Parliamentary Committee but we would like the budget session to happen, to function. Now how to achieve these two things is something, which is not in our hands alone. So we have decided in this meeting to talk to all the other secular opposition parties whom we have been cooperating with in parliament and to decide to a common approach," he added.

Referring to Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's statement that the CAG report on the spectrum scam was faulty and that there had been no loss of revenue for the government, Karat said it indicated that the UPA government wanted to "cover up" the whole affair.

"Why no JPC? the Politburo feels that there is a need fora JPC enquiry into corruption of such magnitude," he said.

Lashing out at the government for petrol price hike and its inability to control rising food prices, Karat said: ""Within a month 5.50 rupees has increased per litre, and the government still talks about trying to curb price rise. So the deregulation of Petrol pricing is actually contributing to the inflation rate. We have decided that we will immediately discuss with the other parties and plan a countrywide agitation against price rise and the failure of the government to curb price rise."

Voicing concern on the spiraling violence in the run-up to Assembly elections in the West Bengal, Karat expressed confidence of the CPI-M led Left Front retaining power in their bastion.

"Despite all efforts to instigate violence and target the Left Front government we are confident the state will recognise that this sort of effort of political violence is being resorted to for very narrow partisan political ends," said Karat.

Karat also detested the move of the Election Commission of sending a team comprising of Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar and police officials from outside West Bengal for conducting free and fair elections in the state. (ANI)