'Left Parties should review support to UPA Govt'

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 21: Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan today said the Left parties should review their support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the Left parties were extending outside support to the UPA government due to certain policies and also to keep the communal forces like the BJP away from power.

Because of the ''wrong policies'' of the UPA government, the BJP was gaining benefit and not the common man, Mr Bardhan noted.

Alleging that the UPA government had miserably failed to implement the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), the CPI leader said it was also ignoring the suggestions made by the Left parties.

Under these circumstances the Left parties should review their support to the UPA government after the Uttar Pradesh and Presidential elections are over, he added.

Mr Bardhan opined that the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections would be crucial to all major political parties, including the Congress and the BJP.

On recent electoral gains for the BJP, he said it was not because of that party's increasing popularity, but the people's anger against the Congress.

On Special Economic Zones (SEZs), he said ''industrialisation is a must for the country, but SEZ is not necessary.'' Encouraging such projects would only help gigantic companies and the real estate business, he said.

Stating that the BJP could not be an alternative to the Congress, he claimed that the Left parties alone would be the alternative and stressed the need for unity of the Left parties to achieve the goal.

UNI