20081130

V.P. Singh’s death loss for national polity: Basu


Kolkata, Nov 27 : Condoling former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s death, veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Jyoti Basu Thursday said that it was a “loss for the national polity”.
He (V.P. Singh) was all along vocal against the criminalisation of politics. The death of the leader, known for his clean public image and value-based politics, is a loss for our national polity,” Basu, former West Bengal chief minister, said in a statement here.

Recalling his association with V.P. Singh, Basu recalled that the leftists had supported him when he resigned from the Rajiv Gandhi ministry protesting against corruption and later when he became the prime minister.

“V.P. Singh always fought communalism. He had stressed the need for uniting the secular and democratic forces to thwart the dangers of communalism,” he said.

Basu remembered V.P. Singh’s vital role in the formation of the United Front government of 1996 and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004, and said he had taken important steps for the upliftment of the other backward classes.