Left seek UPA allies intervention to stop disinvestment spree

New Delhi July 4 (UNI) The Left Parties today sought to distance themselves from the UPA government charging it with continuous violation of the CMP commitments and asked the UPA allies to make an effective intervention to prevent the Manmohan Singh regime from disinvesting profit making PSUs.

At a joint meeting, the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc, while accusing the Congress-led coalition of ''messing up'' the issue of price rise, also resolved to begin a country-wide week-long agitation from July 13 to 19 to protest the rise.

''It is regrettable that the government has so far not taken any steps to check price rise,'' the Left leaders said.

After the two-hour meeting at the CPI(M) headquarters here,CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said, the Left parties reiterated their strong oppostion to the government decision to disinvest NALCO and Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC).

''Many political parties have come out against the disinvestment in these two entrprises,'' Mr Bardhan said, adding that they also called upon all sections of the people and democratic organisations to extend support to the struggle against the government's decision.

To a specific query on whether the Left parties had also decided to 'move out' of the UPA-Left Coordinaiton Committee meetings on the disinvestment issue, Mr Bardhan replied in the negative.

Endorsing Mr Bardhan's statment, Forward Bloc General Secretary Debvrat Biswas said, the Left parties were awaiting the response of the government to their nine-page note submitted by them recently.

''We hope the government is working on it. Let it come, then we will see,'' Mr Biswas added.

CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, CPI National Secretary D Raja, Forward Bloc Secretary G Devrajan and RSP leader and M P Abani Roy participated in the meeting which demanded the stoppage of forward trading, immediate action by the Centre and the state governments to launch de-hoarding campaign and streamling the public distribution system (PDS).

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