By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India (CPI) Monday urged Left parties to review the performance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government and asked them to "redefine" their attitude towards the ruling coalition and its policies.
"The CPI called for a review of the performance of UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government by all Left parties and redefine their attitude towards the UPA government and its policies and performances," CPI general secretary A. B. Bardhan told reporters after a two-day national conference of his party.
The CPI, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Forward Bloc extend crucial outside support to Manmohan Singh's government.
Warning the UPA, which completes three years in government Tuesday, the CPI leader said. "Unless the UPA government carries out a mid-term correction of the course that it is pursuing and implements the CMP (Common Minimum Programme, the mutually agreed agenda for governance) in letter and spirit during the coming two years the discontent and disillusionment among the people will grow further."
Although appreciating "pro-people" legislations like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Right To Information Act, the CPI severely criticised the UPA's economic policies.
"Farmers' distress and suicides continue. The so-called SEZ (special economic zones) are becoming a means to allow big business to grab land and indulge in real estate speculations.
"The government has failed to bring up the bills on unorganised labour, agricultural workers and so forth," the party said in a statement said.
The Left party congratulated Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Uttar Pradesh's newly elected Chief Minister Mayawati for winning a majority in the recently held assembly elections.
"A positive feature of this victory is the huge defeat of the communal reactionary BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)'s ambition to 'march to Delhi via Lucknow'. It also ended the misrule of the Samajwadi Party in the state," the statement said.
There was some introspection too.
"The Left as a whole has drawn a blank in this biggest Hindi state. This is the cause of serious concern for our party and the Left. We have to redefine our agenda of activities in the Hindi belt," it said.