Left sees red in PM speak

"India-Pak-Iran Gas project fraught with many risks".

The Left parties today reacted sharply to the remarks made by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh to an American newspaper that the India-Pakistan-Iran Gas pipleline project was fraught with "many risks".

Describing the remarks as "unfortunate", the Left wanted the Prime Minister to clarify whether the commitment to the project had been diluted as a result of his visit to the US.

"It is very unfortunate that the Prime Minister has made such remarks in Washington when it is well-known that the US is opposed to the project," Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat said.

The Left also took exception to the Prime Minister's comment that, he (the Prime Minister) was doubtful if any international consortium of bankers would underwrite the gas pipeline project.

Karat was talking after an hour-long meeting of the four Left parties today. The meeting was held to discuss the Prime Minister's US trip and also to discuss the Left's agenda for the monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday.

"We decided not to spare the Prime Minister when he makes a minister moto presentation in Parliament regarding his US visit. We will ask for a full-fledged discussion on the issue," said a Left source.

A statement released by the Left parties after the meeting today said, "The Left parties consider the going ahead of the pipeline project as an acid test for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's commitment to an independent policy serving national interest."

Besides the Prime Minister's US visit, the Left parties also discussed the issues to be raised during the forthcoming Parliament session.

The Left parties will demand for the original bill providing one-third reservation of women in Parliament and state legislatures to be brought immediately to Parliament, Left leaders said after the meeting.

When asked how the government would tackle opposition from alliance partners such Lalu Prasad to the Women's Reservation Bill, a Left leader said, "The government has no problems while taking decisions that go against the Left's principles, let it be the RJD's turn this time round."

The parliamentary committees of the four Left parties will meet on Sunday to discuss the strategy for the upcoming parliamentary session.