The CPI-M yesterday took serious exception to the president of the Bihar Janata Dal, Kamal Paswan's allegations that the party's general secretary, Harikishan Singh Surjeet, had amassed huge property and demanded a probe be ordered into the allegations.
The state secretary of the CPI-M, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthy, described the allegations against the veteran leader as malicious and unfounded.
People's indulgence in levelling such allegations against such a leader will mark the beginning of unhealthy traditions, Vidyarthy said in a press statement.
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He said the allegations had come close on the heels of CPi-M's stand demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Laloo Prasad, on moral grounds to uphold healthy democratic traditions following the CBI move to prosecute him in the Rs 950 crore fodder scam.
No amount of vilification campaign can diminish the towering personality of Surjeet, whose political activities span back to the freedom struggle during which leaders like late Gyani Zail Singh and others worked under his stewardship, Vidyarthy added.
The state Dal president, Paswan, had last week demanded an inquiry into the property earned by Surjeet.
Meanwhile in Kottayam, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet has reiterated his party's commitment to continue its fight against the economic policy pursued by the United Front (UF) government at the Centre.
Inaugurating the valedictory meeting of the annual convention of the state DYFI here on Saturday night, he alleged that the Gujral gomernment was continuing the same wrong policy of the erstwhile Congress government on the economic front.
He said his party would go ahead with its programme to mobilise public opinion against the present economic policy, even if it led to the ouster of the UF government and a fresh election. Saying that the Congress had not learnt any lessons from its election debacles, he said it had tried to recapture power with the help of UF partners, but was successfully resisted by the Left parties, including the CPI(M). He called upon the youth to come out strongly against corruption and communalism which was rampant in the country. The party, Surjeet said, had already started the cleansing process at the leadership level. It would be completed before the commencement of the party congress. Chief Minister E K Nayanar, who addressed the convention felt that the Congress party, which he claimed was founded by a Britisher, would be wiped out if Sonia Gandhi took over its reins.