By IANS,
Agartala : The Left parties would launch a nationwide campaign later this month against the policies of the Congress-led government as well as the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), communist leader Prakash Karat said here Monday.
“The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has no guts to convene the monsoon session of parliament, slated to begin on Aug 11, and for which two weeks’ advance notice has to be issued by July end,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Karat said.
He was addressing the 19th state conference of the party’s Tripura unit here.
“The Congress-led UPA government was aware that if they summon the parliament session and move economic bills, they would not get majority support in parliament,” Karat said.
“The UPA government would have to have majority in both houses of parliament before clearing the bills related to pension funds and foreign investment in insurance and banking sectors. We shall see how it can pass those bills,” he added.
“The Congress and its supporting parties know that those MPs they purchased during the trust vote might not support the government. More and more money will have to be given again to pass the bills.”
“The Manmohan Singh government has bettered the record of former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who purchased seven MPs, while 16 MPs were purchased during the July 22 trust vote,” Karat said.
The CPI-M leader told the gathering that after the Aug 20 country-wide general strike, nine to 10 non-Congress and non-BJP parties would join hands.
“The Aug 20 general strike would be an important landmark in our struggle against the Manmohan Singh government. We must endeavour to bring about a new political alignment that will be able to fight the Congress-led government and the BJP and other communal forces,” Karat said.
“The government, because it is committed to follow the policies dictated by Washington, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, has been refusing to take the measures suggested by the Left parties to curb the price rise,” he said.
Reiterating his party’s opposition to the India-US nuclear deal, the CPI-M leader said: “If a nuclear power project was set up with the help of the US, the per unit cost of electricity would be Rs.5.50 against the coal-based and hydel power project per unit cost of Rs.2.50 and Rs.1.50 respectively.”