Left protest against govt policies in Sept

The Left parties have chalked a big plan to hit the streets in September against the UPA government. From naval exercises to price rise, a host of items are there on the red radar, which will be topped by the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Politically, the Left parties want to showcase the "people-friendly" version of their anti-US stand as they perceive that the nuclear deal is incomprehensible to most of their voters.

Within Parliament too, the Left intends to raise issues like the Srikrishna Commission report on the Mumbai riots, the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, price rise and farmers' suicides.

CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told Business Standard: "From September 1 to 8, we will campaign all over the country not only on the nuclear deal but also a lot of other issues." Apart from public rallies and demonstrations, protest in other forms will also be seen.

Left parties have decided to bring out two 'jathhas' (rallies) from Kolkata and Chennai to culminate at Vizag, against the joint naval exercises in Bay of Bengal from September 4-9. Besides India and the US, Japan and Australia are participating in this quadrilateral exercise. The jatha from Chennai will be flagged off by Prakash Karat and at Kolkata, Bardhan and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose will lead the show.

Left leaders are aware that talking about the nitty-gritty of the Hyde Act and terms like the 123 Agreement may miss the attention of the masses.

According to a CPI(M) Politburo member, "We will highlight how this US-affinity is affecting the poor people of this country. The economic issues are our major concern area."

The CPI(M) Central Committee worked out a strategy for this mass campaign in its meeting held last week. Now, the CPI has convened its central executive, the equivalent of the CPI(M) Central Committee, to discuss among other things, how to go about this mass campaign.

CPI(M) has also decided to take the issue of Indo-US strategic relations to the people through an independent mass campaign. It will highlight how this is affecting the people's livelihood, economic sovereignty and independent foreign policy.

On September 1, the Left will mark 'Anti-Imperialist Day' in Kolkata. Huge demonstrations have been planned at the red bastion to attack the government on its pro-US foreign policy.

Meanwhile, Karat met Bardhan today and reportedly discussed the Central Committee decisions with him.