What about Mamata Banerjee? Karat to PM

NEW DELHI: On a day when home minister P Chidambaram described Naxalism as the gravest threat facing India, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain how Ms Mamata Banerjee continues to be a minister in his government when her party is “openly” supporting Maoists.

The CPM leader said Mr Chidambaram has said wherever Maoists indulge in violence, the government will take action against them.

“But, in the Cabinet, Trinamool Congress leaders are ministers. All these ministers are from West Bengal and they all support Maoists. They have given this statement openly,” he said. More than 170 leftist leaders have been murdered in West Bengal since the Lok Sabha elections, he claimed.

“On the one hand Maoists are attacking while on the other hand Trinamool Congress is colluding with Maoists and are inclined on perpetrating violence and attacks,” he said. CPM polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the presence of Trinamool Congress leaders in the Union Cabinet was a “contradiction” and dubbed the UPA government as a grouping of “power hungry politicians”.