Left demands making bribery tape public

New Delhi, Jul 23 (UNI) A day after the Manmohan Singh government won the confidence motion, the Left parties today cautioned it against going ahead with the nuclear deal on the plea that the vote lacked ''moral and political legitimacy''.

They also asked the government to make public a tape submitted by a television channel about a bribery episode.

The four Left parties - CPM, CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc - said this in a joint statement after their one hour long meeting held at the CPM headquarters - A K Gopalan Bhawan. The meeting was attended by top Left leaders Prakash Karat, A B Bardhan, Debabrata Biswas, T J Chandrachoodan, Abani Roy and G Devrajan.

CPI senior leaders S Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja said they had also decided to launch a nation-wide campaign against price rise, inflation, crises in agriculture and mismanagement of economy.

The first public meeting will be organised in Patna on August 11.

The campaign will also expose how the government misused the CBI 'to intimidate' the opposition MPs and indulged in cross-voting and abstentions to get a majority in the House.

Stating that they had also decided to support the trade unions call for general strike on August 20, Mr Biswas said they will also join hands with other likeminded parties to expose the government's anti-people economic policies.

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