M A I N   N E W S

Karat, Mulayam explore ‘third front’ possibility
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, June 17
CPM leader Prakash Karat today aired his disagreement with the UPA on the issue of state governments sacrificing revenue by lowering prices of petroleum products. ''The initiative should come from the Centre” he categorically told the reporters as he emerged after a 90-minute meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence this morning.

Some Congress-run states like Delhi and Maharashtra have already lowered the prices by waiving off state tax.

Coming out strongly in support of the Samajwadi Party on the issue of the petrol and diesel price hike, Karat said the SP was, in fact, part of June 13 general strike by Left parties on this issue. ''The CPM is committed to supporting the SP on this issue and its secular credentials,’’ he said.

Reiterating his party’s commitment to oppose the hike till it was taken back, he stressed that the CPM had not just made a strong issue of it but had gone public and criticised the Centre’s move

When asked about his party's support to the UPA government despite having sharp differences on several major issues, he said: "We have submitted a note to the UPA government....We will discuss with them the issues raised in the note after a month and then decide. It did not mean that our support should be taken for granted'', he said.

Strongly condemning the decision of the Centre to import wheat at exorbitant prices, Karat declared that his party, along with the support of the SP, would oppose the ''anti-people policies of the Centre”.

According to Karat, his party’s support to the UPA government at the Centre was basically on the secular grounds to keep the BJP and other communal forces away from the power.

Karat asserted that the CPM and the SP had several common issues and his meeting with Yadav was just an endeavour to explore the possibility of a ''third front.''

Mr Karat conceded that CPM may have been supporting the UPA, but both had several points of disagreement.

The meeting took place as Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched a mass-contact programme in her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency to thank the people for her landslide victory in the May 8 byelection.

The Congress president complained of apathy of the UP government towards her Lok Sabha constituency, a bastion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.