Gadkari should listen to his conscience and resign: CPI(M)

Nitin Gadkari should listen to his conscience and step down from his post, CPI(M) leader Subhasini Ali on Friday said.

Shimla: In the wake of several charges of corruption being levelled against BJP president Nitin Gadkari, he should listen to his conscience and step down from his post, CPI(M) leader Subhasini Ali on Friday said.

"Gadkari should listen to his conscience and resign from the party post in the wake of charges of corruption levelled against him by activist Arvind Kejeriwal," said the former MP. Talking to media persons here she said that leaders of both the major parties -Congress and the BJP were facing serious corruption charges and the people have no faith in these parties and are looking for an alternative. "These parties have failed to live up to the expectations of people and the political atmosphere was very conducive for emergence of a strong third force," she claimed. She also lashed out at the BJP government in the state for its "failure to check corruption, unemployment and providing relief to the poor" and said the state government allegedly gave huge subsidy to Adani but was wary of extending subsidies to the poor. The Himachal government signed an MOU with the Centre, putting a tab on creation and filling of posts which sealed the fate of unemployed youth and the BJP government made appointments on contractual and daily wage basis instead of giving regular appointments and exploited them, she alleged. Accusing the BJP government of allowing mushrooming of private Universities in the state, Ali said that on the contrary it did not expand the state run Himachal Pradesh University and starved it of funds. "Former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda, who is behind the bars in Geetika Sharma suicide case, was allowed to invest in a private university in the state and there appears to be a nexus between the government which gave permission to buy huge chunks of land and the private Universities," the CPM leader alleged. Ali alleged that more than 800 government schools were closed in the state by the present government which was promoting and encouraging the private schools. Hitting out at the UPA government for capping the subsidised LPG cylinders to six in a year, she said that the day was not far off when the entire subsidy from the LPG cylinders would be withdrawn. On BJP`s promise to provide induction heater to reduce burden on the LPG cylinder, Ali said "It is an election gimmick as free Induction Plates to 14 lakh households would involve heavy costs and add to electricity bills of the poor." She said the `Him Lok Morcha` comprising the left parties and the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) floated by BJP dissidents may not be able to form its own government but would play a crucial and in the formation of next government. PTI