Set up independent media regulator, Karat tells PM

September 12th, 2009 CHENNAI - Brinda Karat, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member, was Saturday stopped by police before they escorted her to a Tamil Nadu village. Ignoring police advice, Karat and her colleagues, All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) office-bearers Vasuki, Jhansi Rani and others, were proceeding to Uthapuram village, near Madurai, where a Dalit had died in police firing last year during an inter-caste clash.

June 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat has said the Congress party won the recently held general elections as a result of people's concern for a stable and secular government. Talking to reporters here on Monday, Karat said, "Congress party's success is mainly due to the fact that people were concerned having a stable and secular government in the center.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat admitted Saturday that the Left had suffered 'a major setback' in the Lok Sabha elections. As election results showed that the Left strength in the 545-member Lok Sabha could fall under 25, from the 60-plus of 2004, Karat conceded that the Congress and its allies had won the electoral battle.

May 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat called All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Chief Jayalalithaa on Friday. Karat has invited Jayalalithaa for the Third Front meeting on May 18.

May 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said on Wednesday that leaders of the Left and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would meet on May 18 to discuss the possibility of forming an alternative secular government. Addressing a news conference in the national capital after a meeting of Left leaders, Karat said: "Leaders of non-Congress, non-BJP will meet here on May 18 to decide the future course of action.

May 7th, 2009 COIMBATORE - Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat has ruled any tie up with the Congress post-polls. "I want to tell the Congress that if you think after the elections the Left parties will bail you out, then you are living in your own dream world.

May 3rd, 2009 NAGERCOIL - Expressing confidence that the secular combine of the Third Front would form the next government at the centre, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said here Sunday that people were looking for a political change. 'People are fed up with the Congress and the (Bharatiya Janata Party) BJP,' Karat said, addressing an election meeting at Marthandam near Nagercoil, 650 km south of the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai.

April 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rejecting overtures from two Congress allies, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Friday said his party will not abandon its allies after polls. 'Don't try to isolate the Left from our allies.

April 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Left parties will not prop up a Congress-led government, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat reiterated Wednesday. Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh two days ago hinted at tying up with them after polls, Karat said the Left parties would prefer to sit in opposition in case the Third Front fails to form the government.

April 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Lok Sabha elections are a three-way contest, Marxist leader Prakash Karat said Thursday, ridiculing both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In a signed article in 'People's Democracy', the mouthpiece of his Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Karat said the gathering of forces by the Left and regional allies had unnerved the two main parties.

March 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Friday rejected the idea of a 'Fourth Front' and said the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Lok Janashakti Party had come together only for the Lok Sabha elections. Asked if there was a possibility of a Fourth Front, Karat said: 'No Fourth Front.' He was speaking while issuing the campaign pamphlet 'In defence of the rights of minorities' at the party headquarters here.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nothing remains constant in politics and equation keeps changing, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat described his relationship with Manmohan Singh as a political one, not a personal one, and said the decision to not allow Jyoti Basu to become Prime Minister was not a historic blunder. In 1996, the CPM had refused to let Basu take the Prime Minister's oath at the head of a United Front government, something he later termed a "historic blunder".

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had adopted policies that were 'nakedly pro-rich', Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said here Monday. 'We want an alternative secular government in the country,' Karat said while releasing his party's manifesto for the elections.

March 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Sunday expressed happiness over the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) breakup and said a decision on aligning with the Orissa party would be taken soon. 'We are happy to hear the news of the BJD breaking off from the BJP and NDA (National Democratic Alliance).

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's telecom watchdog, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Wednesday said broadcasters should not have any control over distribution operations and vice-versa. 'Any entity having more than 20 percent equity participation in a broadcasting company cannot have more than 20 percent equity in a distributor (operators of cable, DTH, or mobile TV operators) and vice-versa,' TRAI said in a statement.