Left parties to have greater say at Centre: Karat

Sriganganagar, Apr 6: The Left parties will have a greater say in the UPA government once the results of the ongoing Assembly elections in four states and one union territory are out.

Prakash Karat, secretary general, CPI (M) told UNI here today that Left will take steps to check decisions which have not been taken in accordance with Common Minimum Programme agreed upon by the UPA, government led by Manmohan Singh.

He said the Left parties are not happy with India's signing the nuclear deal with US, foreign investment in retail business, or the privatisation of airports. He added that the UPA government has not taken any steps to solve the farmers problems.

He reiterated that CPM will win hands down in West Bengal after 32 years of rule in the state. About Kerala, he said that CPM and its allies will not only win but will come back to power with two-thirds majority.

Mr Karat said the Congress-led government in Kerala has failed to live up to the expectations of the people. That is why the Left were able to win 18 out of 20 seats from the state in the last Lok Sabha elections.

He said CPM has not allied with DMK in Tamil Nadu but have made seat adjustments with it. Similarly the Left have allied with Asom Gana Parishad in Assam to fight against the Congress and BJP there. In Pondicherry also he hoped his party will increase their presence.

Speaking about the office-of-profit controversy, he said the major issue is not about Sonia Gandhi's resignation but that the Constitution has not defined what constitutes office-of-profit in clear terms.

He said many MPs and legislators hold such posts which cannot be categorised as office-of-profit. He said in West Bengal, legislators are made of office-bearers of many committees but the aim is only to put people representatives on these posts instead of bureacrats, so that the workings are smooth. He hoped the next session of Parliament would define and categorise the office-of-profit clearly.

Regreting the increasing influence of WTO on the country's economic policies, he said India will have to fight the pressures and demands of WTO by siding with third world countries like Brazil and African countries.

He said the government before agreeing on any pact with the WTO should keep the problems of Indian farmers and labourers in mind.

UNI