Manmohan Singh govt a sinking boat : Buddhadeb

CPI(M) Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday described the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre as a "sinking boat" and said the Left is trying to build a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative. The condition of Manmohan Singh government is "not good," Bhattacharjee alleged at a party worker's meet here, and said, "His (PM's) boat is taking in water and will sink."

"The Congress has to go. But BJP is not an alternative as it also has the same pro-capitalist and pro-rich policy as the Congress. BJP also supports Hindu-Muslim divide," he alleged.

"So we have to find another alternative. We, the Left, are talking of an alternative which will have consensus on policy issues," the former chief minister of West Bengal said.

"He (PM) is surviving, but is not in good shape and the situation has become such owing to his following the path of capitalism. He has lost his way," Bhattacharjee claimed.

Alleging the Prime Minister was following the 'trickle down theory' where wealth moves down from the rich to the poor, he said "Such things do not happen in reality and the money goes to Swiss banks and not to the poor."

"The Congress government has created 54 of the richest people in the world while the country still has the highest number of poor and ill-fed people of the world," he said.

Bhattacharjee said deregulation of prices of essentials and petroleum products should be done away with.

"In a country where 70 per cent of the population are poor, regulated pricing of essentials like rice, dal and petroleum products have to continue and the government has to give subsidy," he said.

Classifications like BPL and APL among the poor should be done away with and a PDS system for all people should be introduced, the CPI(M) leader said.

Countries like Greece were going bankrupt for blindly following capitalist policies.

"Worldwide the cry is against capitalism and in favour of socialism. This shows we are in the right path," he added.