May 3, 2009

Biman Basu counters Congress tirade against LF Govt.


Kolkata (PTI): The CPI(M) today took a swipe at the Congress top brass for accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of "neglecting the poor", saying it was part of a 'motivated' campaign to mislead people for electoral gains.


Instead of finding fault with the communists, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi should look at the track record of their government at the Centre in working for the poor, Left Front chairman Biman Basu said here.


"In a country like ours, 27 crore women are anaemic and another 23 crore people are victims of malnutrition, 40 per cent of children upto the age of three have no right weight and 77 per cent of the population cannot spend over Rs 20 a day. How can Sonia Gandhi push India forward without removing these maladies?" Mr. Basu charged.


"Perhaps she is not interested in removing poverty and malnutrition among the poor, though she is speaking loudly of aam admi," Mr. Basu, who is the state secretary of the CPI (M) told PTI in an interview.


On Rahul Gandhi's comments that the communists have forgotten the poor, he said he only mouthed what others had taught him, but there were 12.5 lakh villages in the country and it was not possible for somebody to comment on the condition obtaining there without actualy visiting them.


The CPI(M) leader repeated his earlier assertion that the condition of Purulia district in Bengal was better than Kalahandi in Orissa or even Amethi.

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