By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has lashed out at President Pratibha Patil’s address to parliament saying that the tone and the tenor of the speech was “more directed towards the impending general elections” rather than providing a balance sheet of the government’s performance.
Taking strong exception to Patil’s reference to the contentious India-US nuclear deal in her speech, the CPI-M reiterated that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government should not proceed with the operationalisation of the deal.
Pointing out that the president skipped many important issues, the CPI-M said in an editorial in the latest issue of party mouthpiece People’s Democracy: “The tone and tenor of the speech has led to speculation in certain quarters that its content was more directed towards the impending general elections rather than providing the country with an objective balance sheet of the government’s achievements and failures.”
It said the speech, which boasts of 9 percent consistent growth in economy, has “brazenly omitted” the fact that a farmer commits suicide out of distress every 30 minutes in the country and 78 percent of the population still lives on less than Rs.20 a day.
“Worse, there is no reference to the continuing price rise, particularly of essential commodities, that is eroding further the living standards of the people,” the editorial said.
“In the fields of education, health and rural development, the president enumerated the 11th Five-Year Plan targets. The president, however, chose not to remind the country that the 11th Plan increases in allocations in these sectors will only materialise over a five-year period. These, hence, do not constitute any immediate relief to the distress of the common people today.”
The CPI-M, which has been opposing the nuclear agreement with Washington, took exception to Patil’s reference to the deal. “As it stands today, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)-Left have agreed that the government would proceed to discuss the safeguards issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency and report back to the committee that is examining the implications of this deal on India, before proceeding further.
“The Left maintains that the government should not proceed with the operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.”
The communists have allowed the government to proceed with the IAEA negotiations on condition that it should not finalise the deal without a green signal from them. The president has hoped that India’s civil nuclear cooperation with the US and other friendly countries will become possible.