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CPI(M) to continue support to UPA, CPI for review

	May 07, 2007

The CPI(M) has ruled out withdrawal of support to the UPA Government at the Centre, even as it said that it would be working for a third alternative on the basis of a common platform. While the largest left party has categorically committed support to the Manmohan Singh Government, the other Left parties, especially the CPI, want review of the backing to the UPA.



CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, who has been issuing periodic warnings to the Manmohan Singh government to shape up, said in an interview with a news agency that the time has not yet come to review the arrangement at the Centre.



Last month, Karat had come close to suggesting that anti-BJPism could not be the sole consideration for the alliance at the Centre. Veteran party leader Jyoti Basu, however, rejected the argument saying that the BJP was the biggest threat to secular polity and that there was no question of withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh Government.



Karat said on April 29 that the party has no plans to destabilise the Government. It will not do anything that would benefit the BJP. “Who would benefit from this, except the BJP ? Our view is that since we are outside the Government, we should continue to press for changes in policies and mobilise people against the measures which are not in the interest of the people and the country. If there is any alternative proposal, we can discuss it in the Left parties,” he said. Karat was replying to a question about his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan’s call for the Left parties to review their support to the UPA Government.



Karat also used the opportunity to repeat his familiar complaints against the Manmohan Singh government. While asserting that the discomfort between popular aspirations and Government policies had led to electoral setbacks for the Congress, Karat said there was need for a course correction.



He admitted that the BJP has become the main beneficiary of the popular disquiet against the Manmohan Singh Government’s policies. That is why we are insisting that immediate steps should be taken to curb price rise and tackle the problems of farmers and give up the idea of merely harping that the GDP growth rate will automatically benefit the poorer sections,” he said.



Despite Karat’s categorical Statement, the CPI has again called for review of the Left backing to the UPA Government at the Centre.



The Government should be given the message that Left support cannot be taken for granted any more, party general secretary A.B. Bardhan, said. “My point is not that we should immediately withdraw support. I did say and I still say that it is time for the Left parties to review the whole thing. It is time for us at least to send a message to the Government that they cannot take our support for granted.”



Asked if he was giving the Government some time, Bardhan said, “At any rate, we are not saying to withdraw support today or tomorrow.” The country was now faced with two major political issues - the fall out of the Uttar Pradesh elections and the coming presidential elections. “After that the Left should meet and review.”





No move to curtail budget session



In the meantime, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.R. Dasmunshi has made it clear that there is no move to adjourn the Budget session of Parliament on May 8, three days ahead of the declaration of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on May 4, he said, “there is no connection between the UP elections and the running of the House.” He said the list of business till May 15 had already been drawn up. Parliament is to adjourn sine die on May 22 in the normal course.



BJP Deputy Leader V.K. Malhotra had raised the issue saying that there was speculation that Parliament may be adjourned early so that the Centre can impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh in the event of a hung Assembly.



Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani intervened to say that Dasmunshi had recently met him at his residence and told him that there was some difficulty due to the Finance Minister’s proposed US visit. He sought to know if the Finance Bill could be taken up on May 3 and 4. Advani said he had agreed to it. “But, if the objective is different, that is a serious matter... It is a question of trust,” Advani said.



Expressing the hope that there was no substance in the reports that the House will be adjourned early, he said the Opposition needed “an assurance” from the Government that the session will continue till May 22. “The matter is between the Government and the leader of the Opposition,” the Speaker said. He observed, “We proceed on the basis that the House will continue till May 22. Let us not proceed on the basis of anticipation.”



With Parliament giving its nod to the Finance Bill, the financial business for the current session is almost over. On May 4, the Rajya Sabha returned the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill, after passing them through voice vote.



The Rajya Sabha passed the Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill, 2007-08, but not before the Opposition led by BJP leader Arun Jaitley, mounted a scathing criticism of the budget, calling it a “national disappointment” and calling Finance Minister P Chidambaram a “High-tax Finance Minister”.



When his turn came to speak in the debate, Chidambaram too was at his sardonic best, dismissing the Opposition’s critique and arguing that the UPA government’s economic management has been “far better” and the economy currently is “far stronger” then it was during the NDA regime.



Earlier, Jaitley said that two letter writers, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, were paralysing the government’s economic policies. He also made a passing reference to another “letter writer” Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh.



Jaitley said “this is the budget of a reformist who does not want to rock the boat (of UPA government) He (Finance Minister P Chidambaram) has, therefore, reconciled to the status quo.” Jaitley added that it is a Revenue Secretary’s Budget. Describing him as a “high-tax” FM, the BJP leader said, Chidambaram should take a decision to correct this impression.



Chidambaram, however, rejected the argument, saying that had he been so, investment rate would not have been as high. “High investment comes from high savings, which are due to higher disposable incomes,” the FM said.



Rattling off statistics, Chidambaram said if growth and macro-economic conditions are measures to judge a government, then the UPA is doing very well. He also dismissed Jaitley’s contention that there was no “bold” idea in the budget. The Finance Minister said “days of big, bang budgets are over. Reforms have taken root. Now, only incremental reforms can be carried out.”





PC cancels foreign trip



Under pressure from the UPA allies and Opposition BJP, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram called off his scheduled visit abroad while the Budget session is on. The issue had been raised at the Speaker’s all-party meeting last month, when both the BJP and Left Parties had objected to the Finance Minister staying away during the Budget session when important demands on grants are discussed before the Finance Bill is passed in both Houses. The Finance Minister has cancelled his visit abroad and he will stay back in view of the parliamentary business,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.R. Dasmunshi said.





UPA allies join Opposition in rapping economic policies



Earlier on Monday, April 30, the government found its constituents joining hands with the Opposition in launching a virulent attack on its policies and overall handling of the economy. The lead was taken by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in cautioning against a “death warrant” for the coalition regime if “meaningful efforts” were not made to rein in inflation.



During the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Finance Bill, not only the Opposition led by the BJP but also the Left parties joined the RJD and other coalition partners in pulling up the Government for its faulty policies. In particular, members, cutting across party lines, were irked over the further widening of the rich-poor divide which, in turn, was fanning the spread of the “red corridor” of naxalites.





Caution on “crony capitalism”



Bewildered over the “persisting regional imbalance” in India’s industrial development and urbanisation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 1 sought answers to doubts as to whether the policies of the Centre, in the name of protecting domestic enterprises, had actually nurtured “crony capitalism.”



Inaugurating the new campus of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) in New Delhi, Dr. Singh made it clear that the country’s industrialisation could not be dependent only on large corporate groups and it required small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for both growth and employment.



The Prime Minister was particularly concerned over media reports that India’s top business leaders operate in “oligopolistic” market and in certain sectors, where the Government had conferred special privileges on a few. “This sounds like crony [monopolistic] capitalism,” Dr. Singh remarked and, in turn, raised a host of questions.



“Are we encouraging crony capitalism? Is this a necessary but transient phase in the development of modern capitalism? Are we doing enough to protect consumers and small businesses from the consequences of crony capitalism.... ?



In this regard, he wondered whether the country’s labour laws were inhibiting the growth of new businesses.



India, Dr. Singh maintained, was destined to emerge as an important industrial power and it was only through rapid industrialisation that the country could find meaningful solutions to the problem of unemployment and underemployment.