Karimnagar (AP), Feb 21 (PTI) There is no difference between the Congress and BJP as both parties followed anti- people policies and were involved in massive corruption, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan alleged today. Some of the leaders of both Congress and BJP are either in jail or on bail, he charged, addressing a public meeting as part of the CPI's 24th Andhra Pradesh State conference that began here. The incident of three Karnataka Ministers of BJP watching an obscene video in the Assembly was an example for moral degradation in the saffron outfit, he said. Slamming the economic policies followed by Congress and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, the veteran Communist leader said the prices of essential commodities grew sharply making life difficult for the common man. "The rich-poor divide widened as the affluent sections continued to grow richer, while the poor became poorer." All the major trade unions, including INTUC, BMS and AITUC, have joined hands to organise a general strike on February 28 to express their anger over the burning issues of corruption, price rise among others, Bardhan said. He said CPI and other Left parties, which followed pro -poor policies, need to be strengthened from the grassroots. The CPI General Secretary reiterated his party's support if the Centre introduced a Bill in Parliament for formation of Telangana state. The CPI will adopt resolutions on various burning issues like corruption during the four-day conference. CPI Deputy General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, CPI State Secretary K Narayana and several other leaders of the party were present on the occasion.
