Charging that Congress-led UPA and BJP were sailing the same boat in aggressively pushing the "anti-people neo-liberal policies", CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today said the Left alone was capable of offering a corruption-free alternative in the country.
Inaugurating the 20th conference of the Kerala unit of the CPI(M) here, Karat said a strong Lokpal legislation alone would not rid the country of huge corruption, but it required dumping the neo-liberal economic programmes and pro-American foreign policy.
"There are people who think that the Lokpal will end corruption. Of course, a strong Lokpal is necessary. But what is more important is to put an end to neo-liberal policies", the CPI(M) leader said.
Terming the Supreme Court verdict in 2G spectrum case as a "severe indictment of the Manmohan Singh Government", Karat said the alleged massive spread of corruption since the UPA-two came to power was closely linked to its economic policies.
Offering an alternative set of policies was essential not only to address basic issues like price rise, agrarian crisis and commercial exploitation of livelihood resources of masses but also to free the country from corruption, he said.
Since the BJP was not different from the UPA in pursuing these policies, only the Left led by the CPI(M) could offer a corruption-free alternative, he said.
Karat said the global situation was conducive for resurgence of socialism as capitalism was facing its worst crisis in history.
"Twenty years ago, after the collapse of the socialist block, there was a triumphal cry of capitalism. The capitalist triumphalism has evaporated as there is no significant sign of capitalist states in Europe and America recovering from the deep economic crisis," he said.
In contrast, China had staved off the adverse impact of the global recession and emerged as the second largest economy in the world, he said.
In Latin America also the Left-led governments had come to power in many countries and proved successfully that an alternative to capitalism was possible, he said.
Also, the trend of multi-polarity was gaining strength on the international scene bringing an end to the phase of the uni-polarity of American hegemony, the Marxist leader said.
Despite facing crises, the United States had been continuing its hegemonistic policies by intervening in countries like Syria and threatening military action against Iran, he said.
As far as India was concerned, it was important to realise and resist the efforts of the United States to exercise their dominance by making the ruling class its subordinates, Karat said.
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