Left widens opposition to govt, includes more issues

Political pressure mounted on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as the Left parties shifted ground to include more issues on which they had a grouse with the government.

Rapidly claiming ground as a real Opposition and abandoning its role as His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) today announced it would take on the government on a host of issues other than the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement "" the non-implementation of the Srikrishna Commission, the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, unorganised sector Bill and price rise "" in Parliament.

Sitaram Yechury, the party's Politburo member and chief interlocutor with the Congress, said today: "The nuclear deal is an important issue, but there are other important life-and-death issues for the people of this country".

The Central Committee of the CPI(M) had decided in its meeting over the last two days that "the party must conduct an independent campaign till September 15 on various issues" which "affect the livelihood, economic sovereignty and independent foreign policy of the country.

In the past, the Left had differed with the government on specific issues like the disinvestment of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), the patents issue and airport modernisation. This time, the choice of topics indicates an all-out attack.

The BJP, in its own way, is trying hard to occupy the same space. It also sent notices to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for discussions on price rise, farmers' suicides and the alleged attempts to "appease minorities" through the Sachar Committee recommendations.

In an almost eerie echo of Yechury, BJP parliamentary party spokesman V K Malhotra said that the nuclear deal was important but "price rise and minority appeasement were of greater concern."