The Hindu : National : Left parties to meet on Monday to discuss pre-budget strategy

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Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

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Left parties to meet on Monday to discuss pre-budget strategy

By K.V. Prasad

NEW DELHI, JAN. 25. Concerned over the manner in which the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was pushing forward on economic reforms, the Left parties have decided to meet here on Monday to finalise a strategy ahead of the Union Budget.

The Left parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the CPI, the All-India Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party, have been voicing their concerns on several issues such as raising of foreign direct investment caps in strategic sectors, the move to allow foreign banks acquire private Indian banks, merger of public sector banks, the disinvestment in profit-making public sector undertakings, exim policy, and patents.

"There is an impression that the Congress-led Government is taking decisions after consulting the Left parties whereas in reality they are just informing us of the decisions being taken. This is creating problems for us and we have to correct this impression," the AIFB general secretary, Debabrata Biswas, told The Hindu.

Mr. Biswas charged that the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, was pursuing economic policies that were contrary to the agreed Common Minimum Programme. This was hurting the common people especially those in the rural areas.

"We (Left parties) are losing since our constituents are under the impression that we are supporting these economic policies. We want the Government to prepare policies as per the CMP and at the meeting we will see how best we can do that," he said.

The CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, Prakash Karat, said the Left parties would finalise the points they would want the Government to incorporate in the next Budget, at the meeting. The parties would also prepare a note on the move to allow foreign banks acquire private Indian banks.

He said at the last Left-UPA coordination meeting, the Left parties had made it clear that they were not in favour of this move and would submit a note on the issue.

The parties were also against the merger of public sector banks. "Merger means that more than half of those operating in rural areas would be closed down," Mr. Biswas said.

Last week both the CPI and the CPI (M) had in party documents accused the UPA Government of pursuing the same polices of liberalisation and privatisation of the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance Government.

The message was that while the UPA Government was being supported from outside, the Left parties had serious differences over its economic policies.

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