The Hindu : National : Left plans joint appeal by mid-March

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 28, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Left plans joint appeal by mid-March

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Left parties will come out with a joint appeal by mid-March to seek support for a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party secular democratic government at the Centre.

Through the appeal, the Left parties are also likely to reach out to secular parties within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

A broad consensus on this strategy was arrived at a meeting of theLeft parties at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) headquarters here on Friday. Leaders of the parties will meet again around March 10 to finalise the draft of the appeal.

The meeting was attended by the general secretaries of the four Left parties — Prakash Karat of the CPI(M), A.B. Bardhan of the CPI, T.J. Chandrachoodan of the Revolutionary Socialist Party and Debabrata Biswas of the All India Forward Bloc. Besides, Abani Roy (RSP) and G. Devarajan (Forward Bloc) were present.

Mr. Chandrachoodan told journalists that they would try to woo NDA partners uncomfortable with the BJP’s communal agenda and UPA constituents opposed to the pro-American bias of the Congress.

Also, through the appeal, the Left parties will explain their position on various issues including support for the UPA till July 2008, the way they influenced the current dispensation’s policies, and the failures of the government to keep certain commitments made in the National Common Minimum Programme.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National