COALITION RESOLVE: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Ahmad Patel and Home Minister Shivraj Patil and other leaders coming out after the UPA-Left party meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. — Photo: V. Sudershan

NEW DELHI: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners and the Left Parties on Wednesday reaffirmed their resolve to confront and combat communal forces and strengthen the secular pillars of the state.

The focus of the meeting, held to review one year of the Government, turned on Gujarat after members sought to know from Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil as to what prevented the Government from ordering a CBI probe in six riot cases being tried outside Gujarat.

The issue was broached by Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat and found support from Ahmed Patel (Congress), Lalu Prasad (RJD) Assaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and Debabrata Biswas (AIFB). To Mr. Patil's response, Mr. Biswas said that the members wanted to know the political direction and will of the Government rather than a "bureaucratic" reply, sources privy to the proceedings said.

The Railway Minister, Lalu Yadav, reminded those present of the manner in which he was attacked during his visit to Gujarat . He suggested the setting up of a UPA sub-committee to sort out issues at regular interval.

Mr. Patil, who gave a presentation on internal security, one of themes reviewed at the meeting, mentioned the measures taken by the Government, including the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the initiation of a dialogue with naxalites in Andhra Pradesh. Agriculture, rural development and panchayati raj; education, health and nutrition; empowerment of weaker sections; infrastructure and economic growth; and defence and foreign policy were the other themes taken up for review. The meeting lasted seven hours with 14 Union Ministers making presentations on the Government's accomplishments.

"Cordial, constructive"

Briefing mediapersons, Congress leader Ambika Soni said the meeting witnessed a structured discussion with leaders making their points on issues. "The meeting was cordial and constructive," she said. A joint statement expressed "overall satisfaction and resolved to move forward even more purposively to implement their collective, political, social and economic agenda as embodied in the National Common Minimum Programme." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would present a detailed progress report to the nation on May 22, she said. However, Mr. Karat issued a separate statement saying that the meeting was useful as it gave an overall view of the UPA Government's performance in the past year and that certain concerns of the Left parties were raised. "As far as the assessment of the one year of the UPA Government is concerned, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) has already made an assessment in its meeting held on May 14 and 15."

Dr. Manmohan Singh said the Bharat Nirman programme would generate employment and bring prosperity to villages. The programme, with an allocation of Rs. 1,70,000 crores over the next four years, would build roads, railways and ports in villages, which would bring about equality and social justice.

In her welcome address, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi expressed satisfaction over the coordinated manner in which the coalition had worked throughout the year. Among the Ministers who briefed the meeting were Natwar Singh, Sharad Pawar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Meira Kumar, Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Dayanidhi Maran, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, Ram Vilas Paswan, P.R. Kyndiah, Lalu Prasad, P. Chidamabaram and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Ms. Gandhi later hosted a dinner for the leaders at her residence.

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