Left disillusioned with 3-year old UPA regime

New Delhi, May 18: The Left parties do not see the immediate possibility of withdrawing support to the three-year old Manmohan Singh government even though they are highly disillusioned with its efforts to contain price rise, upgrade the quality of life of the poor and arrest agrarian crisis.

Top leaders of the CPI(M), CPI and Forward Bloc said they, however, could not ignore the brighter side of the government in enacting legislations like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Right to Information, Domestic Violence against Women and Tribals Forests Rights, among others.

The Left leaders gave separate interviews to sources analysing the three-year of the government in office amid indications that the government is not going to hold any formal celebrations on May 22 as it did on earlier two occasions.

CPI(M) Politbureau member Sitaram Yechury said the Left parties would have to step up their pressure on the government to accomplish the ''unfinished agenda'' of the National Minimum Programme (NMP), including far reaching measures to arrest agrarian crisis and provision of health care and education to all.

''The pending legislative measures, including the provision of social security to over 370 million workers in the unorganised sector as recently assured by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes on the floor of the House, should be completed,'' said Mr Yechury, the party Rajya Sabha MP.

CPI veteran leader Gurudas Dasgupta deplored that the Left parties had to extend an outside support to the ''nikammi sarkar''(inefficient government) even as the time had come to review the basis of their continuance of support.

Further deploring that the Left parties had given support to the government following a joint decision of the four Left parties, including the RSP, Mr Dasgupta said the time had come to think about giving ''an issue-based support''.

CPI senior leader and Lok Sabha MP S Sudhakar Reddy said the Left parties had greatly been disillusioned with the government's performance, ''yet there is no case for immediate withdrawal of support to it''.

''On the brighter side, the government for the first time empowered the people with a legal right to know, created confidence among the minorities, did not put extra burden on the poor and the middle classes by way of new taxes and put a break on the privatisation and disinvestment spree,'' Mr Reddy said.

Mr Reddy, the party's National Council member, said, however, on the negative side the govenrment failed on several fronts as the poverty alleviation programmes could not take off, the quality of life of the BPL did not improve, the burgeoning unemployment could not be reduced and the crisis in agriculture and farmers suicide continued unabated.

The CPI leaders blamed Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath for allegedly ''pushing the country into the arms of the MNCs''.

Forward Bloc National Secretary G Devrajan pointed out the government's increasing tedency to ignore the Left on important policy decisions relating to economy. "Mr Chidambaram did not hold discussion on the Budget this time. On earlier two occasions, we not only held discussions with him but also submitted detailed proposals.'' On the Left's net political gain during the UPA regime, Mr Reddy said the net gains of the Left have been to prevent the BJP from coming back to power and stop the privatisaiton and disinvestment spree of the PSUs.

''But the fact remains that the government has not done anything tangible to revive the sick units. Besides, we have to step up pressure on the government pertaining to its carrying forward the SEZ policy which is undoubtedly anti-farmer, pro- industrialist and corprate sector,'' Mr Reddy added.

UNI