Convene Monsoon session without delay, CPI demands

New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) The CPI today charged the UPA Government with undermining the Parliamentary system, handing over the EPF to private players, aggravating the situation on the price front and helping the communal forces stage a comeback.

While taking serious exception to the government's reported move to skip the Monsson session for fear of facing Parliament, party General Secretary A B Bardhan said the Congress-led coalition had brought the prestige of Parliament to its lowest ebb when it created a situation wherein the holding of the session had become doubtful.

''Earlier, the duration of the session was curtailed heavily, now the government has reportedly chosen to skip the session altogether.

The Monsoon session has been a tradition for the past 50 years,'' Mr Bardhan told mediapersons at the conclusion of the party's three-day National Council Meeting here.

''It has used every trick in its armoury to win the trust vote -- by horsetrading, abstentions and offering allurements of Cabinet berths among others,'' he said.

CPI Deputy General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy and senior leaders D Raja and Atul Kumar Anjan were also present.

Stating that the Amarnath Land allotment controversy was a fit case for discussion in Parliament, the CPI veteran called for an ''acceptable'' solution with the participation of all local parties, be it the NC, BJP or the Panthers Party to be found without further delay.

The real question is to provide facilities to the lakhs of devotees who throng the Kashmir valley for visit to the Amarnath shrine. Besides, provision of facilities to the yatris had been a source of income for the local population.

He accused the BJP, Bajrang Dal and the VHP of letting their workers come out into the streets to foment communal disharmony to find a issue like that of the Ram temple for political purposes.

In a reply to a specific query on the reaction of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's expulsion from the CPI(M), Mr Bardhan advised mediapersons to ''leave him alone''.

On price rise, he said the NC had also decided to support the central trade union's call for general strike on August 20 against the government's anti-poor and anti-people economic policies.

Mr Bardhan , however, did not agree with the government's optimism about earning more rate of interest by allowing private fund managers to invest a major portion of Rs 2,40,000 lakh crore in the speculative market.

''This is all bogus. Please remember how more than 50 per cent of the US pension, mutual and employees provident funds crashed there recently and the high-rate inflation and unprecedented hike in prices of petroleum products. Do you want the similar situation in India?'' The National Council of the CPI strongly condemned the serial bomb blasts which took place in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Bangalore in quick succession.

Urging the Centre to take urgent steps for uninterrupted fertiliser supply to farmers in present sowing session, the CPI said the continuous negligence of agrarian issues would lead to less production and productivity, resulting in a danger to food security.

UNI KSA SW RP RK1850