Debate
Left love for poverty
By Geeta
Somebody said it right; they have a vested interest in retaining poverty in India for, they believe they would survive and thrive as long as the country remains poor.
You guessed it right; we are talking about the Indian Leftists who must comment on anything under the sun in their regular afternoon press briefings. Even as the BJP was crying foul about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh'sremarks about former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the former'smeeting with President George Bush,
The trouble with the CPI and CPM is that while their ideologues would have gone global; they would hammer on poverty and the poor as if life is a zero-sum game and we should shut our stock markets as long as there are poor in India.
CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri rushed in with his sound byte.??Not only the BJP but the Left has serious difference on the issue (India'snuke deal with the US)??.
Having wrecked the stock market immediaely after the bowing out of the NDA Government by a whole lot of irresponsible and illiterate statements, the CPI and the CPM are at it again. Their worry is as to why the Indian market is doing well with the Sensex benchmark crossing the psychologically important 8000 mark.Their ?expert comments?? are almost hillarious: the scam is in waiting; retail investors would go pauper after another scandal breaks out and the FII money is nothing but the black money of home-grown industrial houses coming back to India after being ?white-washed??. The Rajas and the Yechuris are not willing to give any credit to the Prime Minister they are supporting for the seven per cent GDP growth and earnings by the corporate sector. All that they want to do is politics, no matter what is the issue and whether they know anything about it or not. In the process, they take the Indian public for granted and want to convey this impression of championing their cause by acting like a good Opposition.
The Rajas and the Yechuris are not willing to give any credit to the Prime Minister they are supporting for the seven per cent GDP growth and earnings by the corporate sector. All that they want to do is politics, no matter what is the issue and whether they know anything about it or not.
As the proverb goes: they want to eat the cake and have it too. Otherwise, they would have understood that it is not only the Indian market which is growing; the markets all around the world are doing well. If India'smarket capitalisation has crossed half a trillion dollar; it is well over a trilling dollar in Hong Kong; not to speak of a huge 15 trillion dollar in the US. The trouble with the CPI and CPM is that while their ideologues would have gone global; they would hammer on poverty and the poor as if life is a zero-sum game and we should shut our stock markets as long as there are poor in India.
They must criticise for the sake of criticism and a few headlines in the media! The sound bytes are a bonus in any case. How come they have become extra careful about giving bytes on West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattachar-jee who has shown Left ?bosses?? in Delhi their rightful place by his bold statements in Singapore. He made it clear to the Karats and the Yechuris that he was not really bothered about the past sins of the Indonesian Salem Group and would welcome them with a red carpet for creating a world class township in 5000 acres in the South 24 Paraganas. Stock markets all around the world behave in a similar fashion; it runs on a herd mentality and it passes through periods of bulls and bears. When bulls rage beyond a limit; it leads to anxiety among investors, particularly the small investors. But then, there is a way to go about it. The market regulator , SEBI and the Reserve Bank of India have a role to play. They must ensure that the foreign institutional Investors are made accountable they should be asked to identify the clients on whose behalf they are investing. The regulators should also ensure that the banks sitting on public deposits do not excessi-vely invest in the market. The bank lending to the corporates should also not find way in the volatile market. Any responsible party or a forum would want the government to be watchful about the excessive heat in the marketplace. But then, the Leftist friends of the UPA Government would like a panic like situation in the market. They neither help their allies in the ruling combine; nor the investors by making reckless statements.
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