UPA-II has become 'increasingly vulnerable': Karat

In an article in party mouthpiece 'People's Democracy', Karat said the government has been "callous" to the common man's suffering due to price rise while it showed "great solicitude" to big business and corporates during meltdown.

Only the Congress government could be blamed if there is an impression of it being "directionless", he said noting that there is growing opposition within the coalition against the policies and programmes of the government.

"Politically, the striking outcome of the first year of the UPA government is its increasing vulnerability. In May 2009, the UPA won the elections but failed to get a majority. Congress ignored this reality and became complacent with the unilateral declaration of support by parties like SP, BSP, RJD and JD(S).

"By the end of the first year, that complacency has been shattered. During the last budget session, Congress had to adopt the tactic of bargain and striking deals to garner support amongst these parties," Karat said in his article.

If the government thinks it can go ahead with its own "prescription", he said, they will find themselves in a position where coalition partners often "look at things differently and assert themselves".

He said the last three weeks of the Budget session witnessed manoeuvres to prop up the government's majority against the cut motions and the struggle to ensure passage of legislations. "The cynical use of the CBI for political purposes is undermining the credibility of the agency," he said.

"The first year of the government has seen the IPL affair, the 2G spectrum allocation scam and the mining scandal of the Reddy brothers. All this can be directly sourced to the nexus between big business and ruling politicians," Karat said.

On the Maoist violence, Karat alleged that the government tends to treat it solely as a law and order problem without realising that some of its own policies like giving licence for "indiscriminate" mining in the forest areas was alienating the tribal people.
"Moreover, it finds itself hampered by its own partner in government, the Trinamool Congress. Mamata Banerjee has declared there are no Maoists in West Bengal and therefore there is no need for joint operations against them," he said.

Karat claimed that the government failed in tackling the "relentless" price rise of essential commodities. "This has been the biggest cause for people's suffering in the past year. For the poor, it has meant less food and more hunger and malnutrition," he said.

"This is not a failure but an outcome of the determination to pursue neo-liberal policies. Food items and other essential commodities are traded and speculated in the market in a big way," Karat said.

"The forward trading system is the playground for big trading companies and corporates. The government is least interested in curbing these interests who are making huge profits," he said adding, the government failed to bring legislations which could provide relief to the common man.