By IANS
Agartala : Left parties are seriously contemplating a third alternative with non-Congress and non-BJP parties, says Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
He said the ‘third alternative’ was different from a ‘third front’ and would be based on electoral understandings and seat adjustments.
“The Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has deviated from the common minimum programme (CMP) and the Left parties have strongly asked the government to implement the CMP properly,” Yechury said while addressing an election rally here Sunday.
The CPI-M politburo member accused the UPA government of going back on its commitment on the CMP by not allocating due share of the GDP to education and health sectors.
“The centre also did not double the budget allocation for the agricultural sector and failed to provide institutional credit to the needy farmers,” Yechury said.
Referring to the Indo-US nuclear deal, Yechury, also a member of the Rajya Sabha, said the government had committed to the Left parties that the government would not sign the necessary papers without consulting the Left-UPA joint panel, though New Delhi would discuss the matter with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
He said the Left parties would never compromise with the country’s independent foreign policy and pointed out discrepancies in the government’s stance.
“For the installation of one megawatt capacity nuclear power project, it costs about Rs.110 million. This is against Rs.30 million for a coal based plant or hydro or a thermal power project of a similar capacity.
“If India could save a huge amount without installing the imported nuclear power project, than it would be able to set up thousands of big hospitals like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country,” the CPI-M leader held.
He also warned New Delhi against promulgating president’s rule in Tripura: “If Congress imposes president’s rule in Tripura, than the Left parties would force the same at the centre.”
He said the Congress’ electoral alliance with the Tripura based tribal party, the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), has weakened the movement against separatists.
“The tribal based party has links with militants,” Yechury said.