Rein in govt on economic policy, CPI(M) tells Cong

'The FM talks of 10% growth when he should be tackling inflation'.

The CPI(M) has warned the Congress that it will have to pay a "heavy political price" if it fails to rein in the UPA government's economic policies.

This assumes significance in the context of the mood in the two Left parties, the CPI(M) and the CPI, for a review of the UPA government's performance, especially after the recent electoral reverses suffered by the Congress.

"There is a disconnect between what the people and even the Congress mass base are expecting and what the UPA government and its ministers are striving for," an article in the latest issue of the CPI(M) mouthpiece, People's Democracy, has said.

Written by "A Political Commentator," whom party sources identified as "someone at the highest level" in the party, the article said the Congress leadership was at a crossroads.

"It (Congress) has to decide whether it wants to run a government which keeps the priorities of US companies like Wal-Mart and AIG uppermost, or, the country's sovereign interests. Whether it will muster the courage to direct the government to effect a major course correction, or, continue to concede political ground to the BJP and the rightwing opposition," said the article.

The CPI(M) had, in its recent central committee meeting, resolved that it could not go along with the UPA government's "neo-liberal" and "anti-people" prescriptions.

"The Congress leadership should not take the support of the Left parties to the government for granted. It is precisely because the BJP is benefiting from the Congress stance and the government's policies that the CPI(M) firmly opposes all those political and economic measures which create grounds for communal forces to feed on popular discontent. The Congress leadership has to ensure that the UPA government changes course. Failure to do so will extract a heavy political price," said the article.

The CPI(M)'s threat comes about a fortnight after CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan called for a review of the Left parties' support to the UPA regime.

The article makes a scathing attack on Finance Minister P Chidambaram. "The FM glibly talks of achieving a 10 per cent GDP growth at a time when he should be seriously tackling the problems of inflation and price rise. His other concerns seem to be how to get the pension fund privatised and raise the FDI cap in insurance."

The Left party said the agriculture minister "seems oblivious that procurement of wheat by the FCI is languishing, while private traders corner the crop."

The article says the commerce minister is bent upon bringing FDI in retail "by hook or by crook."

"The Wal-Mart-Mittal deal is one such venture. The Congress president is unable to stop FDI in retail, even after asking the government to be careful on the issue," it said.