Ball in AP CM's court: Left leaders

Hyderabad, Aug 2 (UNI) The Left parties, spearheading a struggle for land to the poor, today demanded that the Andhra Pradesh Government come out with concrete proposals on their demands for holding any ''meaningful talks''.

''The ball is in Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's court.

We have put forth our demands. We can consider talks with the Government only if it comes out with concrete proposals,'' CPI(M) leader Y V Rao told newspersons here.

Condemning the police firing on their activists and foisting of attempt to murder case against agitators by the Government, the Marxist leader said the Government was heaping ''insults'' on their movement by claiming that police had fired in the air. ''How come then seven people fell dead,'' he asked.

Denying the Congress' charge that the TDP had hijacked the Left parties' stir, CPI State Secretary K Narayana said the Left parties would intensify the stir on their own. At the same time, other parties were free to express solidarity with them, he explained.

They also demanded immediate withdrawal of all cases allegedly foisted on their activists in connection with the Mudigonda police firing, judicial probe by a sitting High Court Judge, besides their earlier demands, including constitution of a land commission to deal with land issue and appointment of an Ombudsman to deal with complaints relating to housing programme.

The Congress Government was ''jittery'' following the good public response to their agitation and was only trying to delay a solution to the land issue by proposing talks without coming forward to accept their ''genuine'' demands, Mr Rao claimed.

Earlier the Left parties, including CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), Marxist Communist Party of India (United) and CPI(ML) Liberation, met here to chalk out programmes to intensify their agitation.

UNI