Difficult days ahead, Left warns UPA

NEW DELHI: Just two days before the monsoon session of Parliament, the Left parties have blasted the UPA government on a number of issues.

The Marxists, who support the government from outside, warned it of difficult days ahead if the promises made in the common minimum programme were not adhered to. They, however, ruled out any immediate threat to the government’s stability.

Criticising the government, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, after a joint meeting of the Left parties here on Friday, said, “The Left parties want the government to introduce the original Women’s Reservation Bill in the forthcoming session of Parliament.” “Any further delay in the matter is unwarranted,” he added.

Expressing concern over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks in the US on India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, Mr Karat said, “The Prime Minister should clarify whether the commitment on the pipeline project has been diluted as a result of his US visit, and it is an acid test for the UPA government to prove that it has an independent foreign policy to serve the national interest. No fourth country has a right to intervene in the pipeline issue. The statements by the Prime Minister are uncalled for and also unfortunate.”

Present at the meeting were CPI’s AB Bardhan and D Raja; Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Sitaram Yechuri of CPI(M); AIFB’s Debbrata Biswas, G Devarajan; and Abani Roy and Manoj Bhattacharya of RSP.