The Hindu : National : UPA must live up to people's expectations, say Left parties

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Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004

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National

UPA must live up to people's expectations, say Left parties

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JUNE 15. While reiterating their commitment to the success of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government's Common Minimum Programme (CMP), the Left parties today said there were bound to be differences of opinion on several issues as the alliance constituents followed different ideologies. "But that does not mean that these parties are not committed to the CMP. People have voted for a change and it the duty of the new secular alliance at the Centre to live up to their expectations."

Participating in a discussion on Common Minimum Programme organised by Vichar Nyas in the Capital, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, Prakash Karat, said the real commitment of the Congress-led Government to the CMP would be reflected in the coming Union Budget. "There could be some differences on the implementation of the CMP, but that can be worked out by forming a joint forum of the UPA to discuss such issues. An effort in this direction is already on," he said.

The nation's "public policy" — CMP — was formulated in complete transparency, Mr. Karat said and added that the Left would continue to criticise the UPA Government not with the aim to destabilise it, but to correct it and ensure the CMP's implementation in the people's interest. "People have voted for a secular government as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance Government had communalised the government agencies and had been pursuing anti-poor economic policies and had diverted from the independent foreign policy. And we need to correct all that."

Stating that the people would soon start feeling the good results of the CMP, the Communist Party of India (CPI) secretary, Atul Kumar Anjaan, criticised the stockbrokers at the Bombay Stock Exchange for trying to shatter people's confidence and negate their mandate. "We will have to decide whether those in the BSE or the nation's socio-economic conditions will decide our policies. This is a new type of challenge we will have to counter."

The farmers and poor sections of society were lacking trust in the system as the NDA Government had ruined them. Now the onus lay with the UPA to help these marginalised people in society, said Mr. Anjaan, adding that they also needed to strengthen the public sector besides starting a new chapter of government-private sector co-operation. "Today the CMP reflects democracy in its new orm where like-minded secular parties have come together to run a government democratically," he said.

Participating in the discussion, the Civil Aviation Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, Praful Patel, expressed confidence that the Left parties would not only guide the UPA Government in the right direction but would also play the role of a watchdog. "We in the Government will try to convert the CMP into common maximum performance. It is a challenge to perform and we will succeed," he added.

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