Congress, BJP silent on economic crisis: Yechury

MADURAI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has charged that the global economic crisis that led to loss of lakhs of jobs in the country was not a matter of concern for both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Addressing an election meeting here on Sunday, the CPI (M) polit bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, said the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi did not utter a single word on the issue while addressing an election meeting in Chennai on Sunday. Similarly, the BJP leaders also failed to make a mention of it at their rally at Ludhiana.

It was because they do not have an alternative policy, he said adding, “Their concern is to try to find out new avenues to make money through corruption,” he said.

Mr. Yechury was seeking votes for his party candidate for Madurai Lok Sabha seat, P. Mohan.

He said that his party was pressing for making public investment in a big way in infrastructure development. “Building of infrastructure would generate crores of jobs so that the people could spend their salaries, giving a stimulus to the economy,” he said. Stating that the country had lost one crore jobs in the last three months, he warned that if effective measures were not taken another five crore jobs would be lost in the next three months.

Mr. Yechury said that the economic policies of the Congress and the BJP Governments in the Centre have led to creation of “two Indias” – one shining and the other suffering. Lakhs of farmers had committed suicide and hundreds of children were dying due to diseases that could be prevented, he said.

Stating that the Prime Minister of the country had been elected only after the Lok Sabha elections in 1996, 1998 and 2004, he said that would be the case even in 2009. It was with due respect to the people of the country. The sovereignty of the country rested with the people according to the Constitution, he said. Mr. Yechury said that this time, the coalition Government to be formed by the Third Front would not be instable, as it would not need the outside support from both the Congress and the BJP.

Mr. Yechury said that he was not seeking votes for the alternative front for alternative economic policies alone, but for a shift in direction in the policies concerning the security of the nation from terrorism, social justice and foreign policy.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)