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Congress has not learnt any lessons: CPI(M)

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 17. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) manifesto released here today said the Congress has not learnt any lessons from the past.

It alleged that its economic policies were not different from those of the BJP. Criticising the policies pursued by the BJP-led Government, the manifesto promised a comprehensive set of economic policies to replace the existing ones.

It went on to state that people opposed to the BJP rule expected a "firm defence of secularism and democratic values, not a vacillating and compromising role.'' The party said that the Ayodhya dispute should be decided by the judiciary and no other process would be acceptable to it.

Besides promising to promote secular values, strengthen federalism, the party said the "pro-imperialist'' foreign policy of the Vajpayee Government should be reversed. It charged that instead of working towards a multi-polar world, the NDA Government gave only "lip service'' to it. On the issue of workers' rights, the CPI(M) said it would strive for a legislation to annul the Supreme Court judgment prohibiting strikes. It said India should ratify the International Labour Organisation convention 151 which accords government employees the rights which other citizens enjoy, subject to their administrative responsibilities.

The party advocated a series of steps to correct the situation in the agriculture sector, especially in the wake of the WTO including patents, service and water resources.

In order to prevent any infringement of the freedom of expression of the media, it was necessary to codify the laws relating to legislative privilege, the manifesto said. Parliament and state legislatures should undertake this task, it said. It also suggested that cross-media ownership should be prohibited to prevent monopolies.

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