Having failed to bring down the UPA government, the CPI(M) has now set its eyes on stalling major reform-related legislation in Parliament.
General Secretary Prakash Karat, in a signed article in the party mouthpiece, People’s Democracy, said, “The Congress-led government may think it can utilise the situation to push through various legislation like the Pension Bill, the Banking Amendment Bill and the Foreign Educational Providers Bill which the Left has been opposing. We will work hard to see that such legislation is defeated on the floor of the House.”
Karat’s article comes at a time the UPA has indicated that it will push pending legislative reforms in the financial sector as well as other measures like selling minority stakes in state-owned companies to the public.
The UPA’s new allies, the Samajwadi Party and the Telegu Desam Party, support these measures. Finance Minister P Chidambaram recently said the government would seek the support of all political parties to push through the reform legislation.
Karat also lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying “his government, because it is committed to follow the policies dictated by Washington, the IMF and the World Bank, is refusing to take the measures suggested by the Left parties to curb prices.”
