Left steps up pressure for convening UPA-Left panel meet

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) Unhappy with the Manmohan Singh government's refusal to address their concerns on the ''deviations'' from the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and its performance so far, the Left parties today demanded convening of a UPA-Left Coordination Panel meeting at the earliest.

''We are asking the government to convene a UPA-Left Coordination panel meeting in the third week of this month after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from the NAM Summit,'' the Left leaders told mediapersons after a joint meeting, lasting over one-and-a-half hours at the CPI(M) headquarters -- A K Gopalan Bhawan.

CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, his CPI counterpart A B Bardhan, and other Left leaders including Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Debabrata Biswas and G Devrajan participated in the meeting.

''We are asking the Manmohan Singh government to convene a meeting of UPA-Left Coordination panel to deliberate on the Left's note on the government's performance, submitted in June,'' the leaders said.

The nine-page note mainly cites the government's pursuance of ''anti-people and anti-worker economic policies dictated by the IMF, World Bank and other such institutions,'' failure to combat the communal forces, unilateral amendments in labour laws, a ''pro-US tilt'' in foreign policy, neglect of agriculture and the farming sector and soaring prices of essential commodities.

''Even while two meetings of the UPA-Left Coordination panel have taken place since the submission of the note, the government has not come out with its written response,'' Forward Bloc leaders Debabrata Biswas and G Devrajan said.

The Left leaders' meeting also decided to undertake more joint actions on people's isues in Punjab, UP, Uttaranchal, Manipur and Goa where the elections are scheduled before March 27.

''The final strategy would be finalised at the next meeting of the left parties in consultation with the state units,'' CPI leader D Raja said The Left leaders said they would also write to the Prime Minister seeking to know why Chinese companies had not been permitted to construct and develop seaports ''in the name of security reasons.'' On the developments in Jharkhand, the Left parties asserted that the BJP-led NDA government had forfeited its moral right to continue as it had lost the majority.

UNI KSA Vd KN1535