Oil price hike: Left smells an opportunity

Hike in the prices of petroleum products has only given an excuse to the Left parties to launch an agitation programme against the UPA government.

Over a week before the hike was announced, the CPI(M) Politburo had decided in Kolkata to start a series of agitation programmes to expand the party's base, especially in north India, according to Left sources.

After two-day-long deliberations in Kolkata in the last week of May, the Politburo had decided to turn the heat on the UPA government on issues that could capture the imagination of common man, including rise in the prices of essential commodities, collapse of the public distribution system, FDI in retail, disinvestment policy, et al.

The 16-member Politburo had taken stock of the "national political scenario" and reached the conclusion that the Congress is losing its base in several parts of the country and it is high time for the Left to "go for the kill" with the Opposition parties like the BJP also in disarray. The members had expressed strong views on the way the UPA government was taking the Left support for granted, a Politburo member told Business Standard.

There were also discussions about the possibility of a Third Alternative - an idea floated by CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat during the recent Assembly elections.

To this end, the Politburo had endorsed the proposal to rope in like-minded secular parties. "We are not going to pull down the government. We will rather launch a series of agitation programmes against anti-poor policies of the UPA government from now till 2009 (general election) to make people understand the Left policies and programmes. It's going to be a long struggle for us," the Politburo member said.

It was after these deliberations that Karat had announced the Left parties' plan to organise a countrywide agitation programme in the event of petro price hike.

In the past few days, the CPI(M) leadership contacted various parties including the Samajwadi Party, the TDP, the Asom Gana Parishad and has now enlisted their support for the All-India Protest Day on June 13. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi also met Karat on Tuesday but party leaders remained tightlipped about it.

The CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement today that other parties are also being contacted. It appealed to all mass organisations and transport organisations to join the Protest Day call.

"How we continue our struggle against the UPA's policies will depend on how the people and parties respond to our call on June 13," said a senior CPI(M) leader.

Going by the deliberations at Kolkata, it is clear that the coming weeks and months will witness a gradual hardening of the Left stance on a variety of issues. It's not the rollback in oil price hike that is under contention here. It's about the Left parties' ambition to expand their base beyond Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura.

Meanwhile, the BJP today announced its decision to hold a two-hour 'rasta roko' across the country between 11 am and 1 pm on Wednesday to protest against the hike in petrol and diesel prices and the UPA government's "failure" to hold the price line.

Party chief Rajnath Singh told reporters here today that the BJP would also like to have its NDA allies to join the protest.