New Delhi, October 1
A day after the Planning Commission dissolved all its consultative groups, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Left leaders discussed the holding of the next UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting over breakfast here today.
The meeting would aim at sorting out differences over contentious issues, including hike in the FDI cap in certain sectors, EPF interest rate and situation in Kashmir and Manipur.
“We are working out the dates. Although leaders of all parties are busy with the Maharashtra elections, the meeting could be held before the elections, after the campaigning ends,” CPM leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters.
The campaign for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly ends on October 11.
Dr Manmohan Singh assured the Left that the government would evolve a mechanism for consulting experts in the mid-term appraisal process.
While welcoming the decision to dissolve consultative groups following controversy over outside experts, the Left expressed reservation over the fact that Left economists were also shown the door in the process, they said.
“The issue was unnecessarily blown out of proportion, as we had, much earlier, left it to the Prime Minister to take a decision on the matter,” Yechury said, striking a conciliatory stand on the issue.
The issue of FDI in telecom, insurance and civil aviation sectors also came up for discussion and the Left made it clear that they were not against FDI per se, but favoured its inflow in high-tech sectors.
Yechury said, “The media should understand our views on this. We favour FDI on three conditions —to augment the existing productive capacity, to upgrade technological capabilities and to generate employment.”
Denying any differences with the government, he said there was
no question of the Left being ignored in policy formulations.
“It is for the record that the Left parties have no dispute with the government, except on certain public pronouncements made in the recent past. Barring these, we have no dispute,” he added.
The Prime Minister also briefed the Left on his recent visit to the USA and the UK and talks with world leaders. “PM made India’s strong case for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council,” Left leaders said.
On the Prime Minister’s talk with Musharraf, Yechury said the joint declaration issued in the USA, in the context of January talks with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were steps to take the bilateral relations forward.
Besides Yechury, CPM leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet, CPI leader D. Raja, All-India Forward Bloc’s Debabrata Biswas and Revolutionary Socialists Party’s Abani Roy were present at the breakfast meeting.
Later, addressing the All-India Left Student’s Convention, Yechury said it was imperative that the UPA government heeds the concerns raised by the Left as it could not run without their support.
“There is a secular government at the Centre which cannot run even for a single day without Communist support. And when we are lending it support, it has to pay heed to our concerns and follow our suggestions on policy matters,” he said.
Meanwhile, a bust of renowned freedom fighter and the prime force behind the communist movement in the country A.K. Gopalan was unveiled here today. Veteran CPM leader and general secretary H.S. Surjeet unveiled the bust at the party headquarters.
