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UPA Government : Left parties return to Coordination Panel

	October 17, 2005

The Left parties have ended their boycott of the UPA-Left coordination meetings after securing an assurance from the UPA Government that it would not go in for disinvestment in profit-making public sector Navaratna companies including Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. The announcement of the end of the boycott came after an hour-long meeting of the four Left parties in New Delhi on October 13. But all the Left parties were not in favour of ending the boycott. Three of them, the CPI(M), CPI and All India Forward Bloc - favoured dialogue with the Government on contentious issues through the Coordination meeting mechanism, but the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) expressed its reservations on rejoining the Coordination panel at this juncture.



The next meeting of the UPA-Left Coordination Panel may take place this week.



The Left parties said they had considered the letter sent by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in response to their June 26 communication regarding the cabinet decision on disinvestment in BHEL. Sonia Gandhi in her letter had conveyed that the Government has decided not to proceed with the disinvestment of shares in BHEL over which the Left parties had serious objections. The Prime Minister had earlier said that the Government did not intend to sell the shares of BHEL and other navaratna companies.



After the meeting, RSP leader Abani Roy told reporters that although he was “not convinced that all problems can be solved in the coordination committee and there will be differences on economic issues, we (RSP) decided to resume participation primarily for the sake of Left unity.



“The decision to boycott was taken collectively and the decision to resume was a majority decision. So we decided to go with it,” Roy said in reply to a barrage of questions.





Congress welcomes Left’s return, BJP frowns



While the Congress welcomed the Left decision, the Opposition BJP said that the Left had exposed itself by deciding to rejoin the coordination panel on the one hand and holding its separate election campaign in Bihar on the other. Party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the UPA Government and the Left parties have a secret understanding and the Left is only pretending to play the role of the Opposition.





Left pinpricks to continue



Observers say that the Left parties’ decision to resume their participation in the coordination panel may signal a truce with the Congress, but the pinpricks on the Government’s economic and other policies on which the two sides do not see eye to eye will continue. The country-wide strike called by Left affiliated trade unions on September 29 is a clear pointer to this.



While rejoining the coordination panel, the Left parties have decided to intensify opposition to several of Government’s policies. One of the policies the Left parties have decided to oppose vehemently is the proposal for a greater foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector. The Left parties say that FDI in retail will affect domestic employment and hit adversely small shopkeepers.



The Left parties have also criticised the UPA Government for caving in on market access at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).



“The Left is against accepting the principle that developed countries will protect their market through tariff barriers while developing countries must do this through non-tariff barriers. The Left feels this position should be rejected outright during WTO negotiations,” said a party spokesman.



In the realm of Foreign Policy, the Left parties have decided to continue their campaign against India’s anti-Iran vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They have set up a 14-member committee including legal luminary Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, with the backing of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Samajwadi Party to put pressure on the UPA Government to review its policy and make amends at the IAEA’s November meeting.



The Left parties have decided to organise a national convention at the end of this month to drum up support for their view on the Iran issue.





Respect Workers’ Rights : Prakash Karat



In an editorial in the party journal, People’s Democracy, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat asked the Centre not to brush aside the import of the workers’ protest across the country on September 29 against the Government’s economic policies. He said, “The working people will rebuff all attempts to put restrictions on the right to protest and the right to strike. The dominating media is bordering on advocating authoritarian measures to suppress strikes in the name of national interest. The media is doing it to defend the interests of the big capital. It was dangerous for the democratic system.”



Karat said it would be better for the ruling circles to understand the message conveyed through this protest action.



“It is an insult to the workers, the Government employees and the working people of the country to brand the strike action, in which millions participated, as a political strong-arm tactic of the CPI(M) and the Left to settle scores with the UPA Government,” he said.





Violation of labour laws in West Bengal



The CPI(M) backed Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has complained to the Centre alleging violation of Labour laws in the IT and ITES sectors in West Bengal. CITU president M.K. Pandhe, who is also a member of the CPI(M) politburo, has sought the Centre’s intervention to check violation of workers’ rights in the state. Disregardful of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s assurance to the IT and ITES industry that their functioning would not be affected by bandhs and strikes, Pandhe has complained to the Government that any attempt to form a union or association by the employees is penalised by summary dismissal. “There are no rules to govern the working conditions and occupation hazards have occurred in several cases without any remedy for redressal,” he said.



While the Chief Minister has promised to take “political and administrative” measures to see to it that strikes do not hit the IT and ITES sector, Pandhe accused State Governments of “not taking any steps to ensure implementation of labour laws since they feel it would result in such centres shifting to other states.



Bhattacharjee who has been wooing the IT bosses to bring the benefits of the IT revolution to his state, was trying to placate the industry after the Sept. 29 strike disrupted IT services in the state. Scowling at his reformist approach, hardliners in his party have decided to take him on by targeting IT companies.