Left to step up pressure for Women's Reservation Bill

New Delhi, Aug 2 (UNI) Expressing dissatisfaction with succesive governments for showing ''insincerity'' on the Women's Reservation Bill, the CPI(M) today said it would continue to press for its speedy passage as a two-third majoirity in the present Lok Sabha was already in favour of the move.

''The government's argument on evolving a total consensus on the bill is unjustified and contradictory as it has gone ahead with its economic agenda bypassing the public opinion and Parliament,'' CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Mohd Salim told mediapersons at a press conference in the premises of Parliament.

When questioned about the Left's constant pressure on the Manmohan Singh government whose very survival depended on their support, the Left leaders empahised that the pressure would also be intensified in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting also.

On the Indo US nuclear deal, they said the party had made its postion clear several times that India should not go beyond the July 18 agreement and the PM's assertions on the floor of the House.

''We hope that the government and the PM stand by their committments,'' Mr Yechury said, adding that his party was enggaged in talks with the government and the other parties on this issue.' In reply to a specific query, he said the other parties also included the BJP. However, he noted that the PM too was now on record to assure the House that the end product would not be detrimetal to the country's national interest.

The Left leader also dismissed media reports that the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata) was being modernised in a joint public-private partnership.

When a mediaperson drew his attention to confirmation by none other than West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mr Yechury said that might ''be his individual view,'' and read out the state government's July 31 letter to the Central government that the Airports Authority of India would take up the task of modernisation of the airport.

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