People's Front agenda

Sir, - Please refer to Mr. Surendra Mohan's article (July 5). The multiple dimensions of the results of the elections in five States prove once again the vulnerability of the NDA coalition and the resilience of the Congress. It is in this background that the People's Front has emerged as a potential, viable alternative. But some important issues have to be addressed before placing high hopes on the new platform.

First, the position towards the Congress should be clarified by the People's Front, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav has already stated that the front would not become a national alternative without the participation of the Congress. But how could it be possible to accommodate the Congress and maintain an organic and symbiotic relationship when it is following the same economic policy as the BJP.

Secondly, the position towards the World Trade Organisation is to be defined. The experience of a decade of liberalisation tells us that growth has receded and the trade gap has increased. Nine million more people have joined the ranks of those below the poverty line and four lakh small units have closed. In this context, withdrawal from the WTO should form an important agenda of the People's Front.

Thirdly, the front should begin a dialogue with non-party people's movements which remain as countervailing forces to the forces of global capitalism. Lastly, it should strive for a merger of the RJD, the SP and the JD(S), whose leaders share a socialist legacy. Mr. V.P. Singh's re-entry should be used for further cementing the unity towards a merger. The Communist parties - the CPI(M) and the CPI - should also seek to narrow their differences and search for ways to build programmes and policies that would ultimately facilitate a merger.

Varughese George,

Tiruvalla, Kerala

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