Left to oppose measures for full rupee convertibility

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Taking serious objection to the Government's ''unilateral'' support to the full convertibility of rupee and further liberalisation of the real estate and power sectors, the Left parties today asserted that the move would be ''strongly opposed and resisted.'' They also took strong view of the RBI reportedly privatising part of its check clearance activities.

The leaders of the CPI(M), CPI and Forward Bloc said the government's painting Indian economy's health 'pink' was not ''true and factual,'' but was based on hot economy and the investments being made in the Stock market.

The Left leaders' strong condemnation of Dr Singh came in the backdrop of his Saturday speech in Mumbai where he asked the Finance Minister and the RBI to prepare a roadmap for moving towards capital-account convertibility, saying that India's own position, externally and internally, had become far more comfortable.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia also made a strong case for further liberalising real estate and the Electricity Boards.

In a press conference in the precincts of Parliament, CPI(M)'s floor leaders -- Nilotpal Basu and Rupchand Pal -- criticised the PM for ''bypassing the Parliament'' and not taking even the supporting parties into confidence, while senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the move would plung the country into an ''economic catastrophe as had happened in the case of the East Asian countries.'' The CPI(M) leaders reminded the PM that when he was the Finance Minister in the early 1990s, a consensus -- which so far was holding true -- was arrived at after widespread protests that compelled the government to change its mind on its proposal for current account convertibility.

The Left leaders stressed that foreign investors were investing in the speculative market in India because they gained the maximum returns due to absence of dividened tax and long-term gains tax.

''Whenever any government makes any change in the tax structure, their money will flow out,'' they claimed.

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