Left to protest government's no to Winter Session

New Delhi, Oct 25 ( UNI) Enraged over the government's refusal to accept their suggestion for calling a fresh winter session of Parliament, the Left parties today vowed to begin an ''effective protest shortly in consultation with the like-minded parties in the Opposition''.

''By this step, the UPA government has taken the unprecedented step of doing away with both the regular monsoon and winter sessions of Parliament. This is a serious assault on Parliamentary democracy and is politically immoral,'' the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc said in a joint statement.

The statement has been signed by CPI(M) general secretary Praksh Karat and his counterparts in CPI A B Bardhan and Debabrata Biswas and T J Chandranchoodan of RSP.

The Left parties' strong oppostion came a day after the current session of Parliament was adjourned last night for more than a month to enable members to enjoy the intervening festivals and then go for campaigns for the six state assembly elections before returning to the two Houses on December 10.

While the BJP and other NDA constituents took the decision jointly, the Left parties demanded that the current session be adjourned sine die and a fresh Winter session be convened in the first week of December wherein the important national issues, the impact of global recession on the Indian economy, price rise, attacks on the minorities, among others, be debated.

The Left parties alleged that the UPA government's intention of seeking the continuation of the same session of Parliament is aimed at avoiding a No-confidence vote on the Floor of the Lok Sabha.

They said the government had announced that the session called on October 17, which itself was a continuation of the July 21-22 trust vote session, would be reconvened on December 10 and termed it ''an assault on the country's Parliamentary's system of governance.'' UNI KSA AKJ RL CS1445