Hitting back at Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat for allegedly calling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam a 'family controlled party', Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday sought to turn the tables on the communist leader, reminding him that his wife is working with him in their party.
Prakash Karat, general secretary of Communist party of India-Marxist, termed the Budget 'flawed'. While speaking to rediff.com, he said, "The increase in indirect taxes will add to inflation. The government is neither going to achieve growth nor it will be able to contain inflation with this budget."
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, a defiant Prakash Karat speaking out for the first time after the poll debacle says he won't be stepping down and makes it clear that he alone cannot take the blame for the Left rout in the elections.
Karat, 56, takes over from Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who offered to step down from the post.
Communist Party of India - Marxist veteran Prakash Karat was on Monday re-elected general secretary for the third consecutive term at the party's 20th Congress, which concluded in Kozhikode, Kerala. Karat, 64, was elected as general secretary in 2005 at the New Delhi Congress and reelected at Coimbatore for the second term. Attended by over 700 delegates from all states, the meet, which had deliberated on the poll debacle the CPI-M suffered in West Bengal and Kerala.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat writes about US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to India.
CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat discuss his party's future, the coming battles in Bengal and Kerala, and the Maoists in an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress commenced in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with interim coordinator Prakash Karat emphasizing the need for Left unity to combat "Hindutva neo-fascism." He criticized the BJP-RSS government, accusing it of representing a "Hindutva-corporate nexus" and displaying "neo-fascist characteristics." Other Left leaders, including CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, echoed calls for unity and condemned the current political climate in India.
'There are many serious crimes in which powerful and fake babas have been involved in... The states where this is prevalent are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and even Delhi,' CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat tells Neeta Kolhatkar.
M A Baby faces several significant challenges: Helping the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front secure a third consecutive term in Kerala's 2026 assembly elections, and regaining ground lost in the party's traditional strongholds of West Bengal, Tripura, and other regions.
The CPI-M general secretary on why his party opposes the India-US nuclear deal.
'Karat's CPI-M is no longer the (reasonably) disciplined, cadre-based party he inherited from Surjeet, it is now just another group of egotistic individuals.'
Left planned nationwide protests over UPA government's economic policies.
If political analysts and party insiders are to be believed, the CPI-M would soon be divided into two easily identifiable groups: Pro-Prakash Karat and anti-Karat. "Some veteran party members are only awaiting the trust vote result. Should the United Progressive Alliance government win, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and his team will be in for some rude shocks," say party insiders.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat are understood to have discussed the economic slowdown, the political situation and the CPI-M's position as a general election approaches.
Former Kerala minister M A Baby was elected as the CPI(M) general secretary at the 24th party congress in Madurai. Baby, who was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1998, has been a member of the Politburo since 2012. He succeeds Sitaram Yechury, who passed away last year.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is set to elect its next general secretary, with speculation rife over who will lead the party. Leading contenders include M A Baby, backed by the party's Kerala unit, and Ashok Dhawale, who enjoys support from the West Bengal lobby. Other potential candidates include Mohammed Salim, B V Raghavulu, and Brinda Karat. The election will take place at the 24th CPI(M) congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Amid this unrest came the verdict of the Allahabad high court on June 12, 1975 that found Gandhi guilty over discrepancies in the electoral campaign, which led to the Emergency on the night of June 25.
Unhappy over the imposition of Central rule in Meghalaya, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Friday held discussions on the issue with opposition leader in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat in New Delhi.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Friday met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the two leaders are understood have discussed the pros and cons of probable candidates for the upcoming Presidential election.
Efforts to give a final shape to a national alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party continued on Sunday with Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat meeting Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in Delhi. Karat drove to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's residence in Delhi and held discussions with her for around three hours.
'I found that the only path to fight inequality was the path of revolutionary politics,' says CPI-M Politburo member Brinda Karat.
Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday presided over the crucial party's politburo meeting in New Delhi to review the party's dismal performance in West Bengal and a close miss in Kerala polls.
Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Thursday, September 12, 2024 following a prolonged illness, hospital and party sources said. He was 72.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat called for unification between Communists and Socialists to forge a "viable political alternative". Karat, who was participating in a function to mark the centenary celebrations of late socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, said on Tuesday, "the Communists are ready to forge a third force in the country in which socialists should also join and share a common platform."
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, on an eight-day visit to China, will hold talks with\nsenior Chinese leaders on stepping up party-to-party ties and further developing Sino-Indian relations.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday lashed out at the Maoists, saying they have degenerated into anarchic violence in the guise of fighting for the cause of the oppressed classes."They wear the red flag and attack the red flag (CPI-M). They are killing tribals, farmers, workers and their families in the name of fighting for the cause of the tribals and the oppressed," Karat said at a public meeting.
The CPM, upset with the government's disinvestment programme, has suspended its participation in the United Progressive Alliance's coordination committee.
BJP wants CPM to vote against the deal in Parliament
Some of the points regarding the agreement were discussed during the meeting, Baru said, adding Karat stated that he would put it to the party's Politburo which will meet over the weekend.
Exuding confidence that Left Front would come back in its bastions, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday criticised the United Progressive Alliance-II for following anti-people policy. "In the UPA's first term, the Left exercised all restrains and succeed in checking prices, disinvestment and subjugation by the government to the corporate," said Karat.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday stated that the Left parties would not compromise on the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam.The CPI-M leader underlined the urgent need for an alternative economic policy as the people were reeling under scorching prices for the 'wrong policies adopted by the United Progressive Alliance'.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat and several other senior party leaders on Wednesday had a narrow escape as an LPG cylinder burst into flames within five meters of the venue where a party meeting was in progress.
CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat called all 'non-Left' parties to resist Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's financial sector reforms plans. In a recent article in People's Democracy, Karat wrote, 'After the burst of the real estate bubble and the financial crisis in the United States, one would have expected this ardent advocate of financial sector reforms to rethink. But that has not happened.'
The United Progressive Alliance government has failed to address the agrarian crisis and the price rise of essential commodities and there is a need for a third alternative, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat said on Saturday. Speaking at the party's 19th Congress in Coimbatore, Karat said this third alternative cannot be merely an electoral alliance.
Left party leaders hoped that a decision will be taken by Friday.
Defending the decision to expel Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said they did not have any other option but to take disciplinary action against the veteran Marxist as he refused to quit the post after a party directive.
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