Allies okay women's Bill, repeal of POTA

The Left parties today got the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to say it would repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and also pilot the Women's Reservation Bill. They, however, reserved the right to publicly express their disappointment and criticism of government policies, including foreign policy.

In return, the Left agreed to a coordination mechanism.

At the four-hour meeting to finalise the draft of the common minimum programme (CMP), Congress President Sonia Gandhi was elected chairman of the UPA.

"We have had a discussion with the government and have put forth our suggestions on the CMP. We are conscious that this is a minimum programme of the government. We will see what emerges in the final draft tomorrow as the authoritative CMP. If the government does not incorporate our suggestions, we will agitate against it. But we will not vote against the government and ensure it does not fall," a Left Front MP said after the meeting.

Jairam Ramesh, member of the Congress economic cell, kept the minutes of the meeting. "Jairam will incorporate all our points in the draft and a final copy will be released tomorrow," the Left MP said.

The Left parties had listed a number of issues they wanted to push through. They felt the characterisation of the Naxalite problem as a law and order issue was incorrect. They also wanted a sharper dissociation from the US.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) wanted the government to discontinue India's strategic alliance with Israel and renew the policy of support to Palestine. It also wanted the bilateral double taxation treaty with countries like Mauritius scrapped, as it felt this was a channel for money laundering. It wanted the flow of hot money regulated and stopped.

The CPI-Marxist wanted India to pursue an independent foreign policy that was multi-polar. It wanted Russia, Europe and China to be added to the list of partners of India along with the US and wanted closer alliances with Brazil and South Africa.

"The singling of the US for strategic engagement is not acceptable to us and contradicts the formulation about an independent foreign policy. There should be a correction in the policy towards West Asia and reiteration of traditional ties with Arab countries and support to the Palestinian cause," the CPI(M)'s input for the draft agenda said.