New Delhi, August 1
The CPM said today that the coordination committee between the UPA and the Left parties had been “almost finalised”. However, it threatened to confront the government on the oil price hike issue.
Talking to reporters after the conclusion of the party’s central committee meeting here, Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat said, “The CPM has decided to protest the increase in petrol and diesel prices. We will chalk out a programme to oppose it.”
Reasoning the need to agitate, he said the party had given some suggestions to the government in this regard, but it did not accept these.
Even as the party threatened to take to the streets, it talked of coordination between the UPA and the Left parties for the smooth functioning of the government.
“The coordination committee between the UPA and the Left parties has been more or less finalised,” he said. An announcement in this regard was likely to be made tomorrow, he added.
He said the UPA leaders would finalise the list of committee members after consultations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Asked whether the Left parties would meet the Prime Minister in this connection, he replied in the negative saying it was for the UPA government to take a decision in this regard.
Senior party leader Jyoti Basu had met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi yesterday and discussed the formation of such a panel.
The initiatives for the coordination committee came after public voicing of differences between the UPA and the supporting Left parties on crucial issues, including FDI in the insurance sector.
Ms Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh would be among the leading members of the committee from the Congress side.
The Left parties have already given six names to the UPA Chairperson. They are: Mr Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Mr Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Mr A.B. Bardhan and Mr D. Raja (CPI), Mr Abani Roy (RSP) and Mr Debabrata Biswas (FB).
The formation of the coordination committee between the UPA and left parties developed some snag mainly due to the composition of members.
The Left parties are of the view that non-left parties within the UPA like RJD and DMK should also find a place in the committee for better representation.
