Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu's failure to communicate to the Communist Party of India - Marxist that he would attend the proposed anti-communalism convention on October 30 suggests he is actively considering joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party in a post-poll alliance.
CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat spoke briefly to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt on the party's prospects in the coming assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal.
Chanting anti-government slogans, hundreds of supporters of Left parties on Friday held a demonstration here protesting the rising prices of essential commodities.
In a candid overview of the state of the Left parties in India, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat told a conference at the University of Cambridge that the Leftist forces in the country were still "banking on the concepts and theories of the 1940s".
An outstanding student, the Politburo member has emerged as a leader with considerable skills of political negotiations.
Trinamool Congress has already announced its decision to boycott the event.
MPs from several political parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, met the president on Friday and presented him a memorandum with the demand.
Elections will also be held in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
The government indicated on Wednesday that it would hold discussions with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties, which had opposed the Nuclear Liability Bill, and did not rule out the possibility of raising the compensation cap of Rs 500 crore as envisaged.
Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party on Monday announced entering into alliance for the coming Bihar assembly elections and claimed they were in talks with some other anti-BJP and anti-Congress regional parties.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, who was the centre of media attention after the PM's comments daring the Left, said, "I am not saying we are satisfied. We will go by our own counsel".
They are likely to meet Sitaram Yechury following the meeting with Gandhi.
A meeting of political parties supporting the Women's Reservation Bill on Tuesday failed to evolve a strategy on its passage in Rajya Sabha, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties demanding that a discussion be held before voting.The meeting was called by leader of Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee to discuss a strategy to ensure smooth passage of the Constitution amendment bill.Sources said the meeting failed to reach a consensus on the passage of the proposed law.
The NCP skipped the meeting to express its displeasure over allegations by some Congress leaders that its two MLAs did not vote for Ahmed Patel in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections.
Calling for a national discussion on replicating the Gujarat model of making voting compulsory, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday criticised the Congress and Left parties for opposing it 'without applying their minds'. Describing the bill as 'innovative and useful', senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the modalities of experimenting it in other states should be discussed.
'Who has given them the right to decide that I am not a Hindu like them'
Scores of opposition workers were taken into custody by police in several areas across the state.
Modi termed it a 'historic document' to fulfil his government's aim of 'sabka sath sabka vikas'.
'The situation in the country is very scary.' 'There is an increasing attack on the Constitutional democratic rights of our people.'
Even two-and-a-half years after the National Democratic Alliance came to power, people remember the previous United Progressive Alliance regime for corruption, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday, asserting that demonetisation would go a long way in curbing black money.
The Bihar government on Sunday vowed to punish those responsible for "lapses" that led to the stampede at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 3, leaving 33 people dead and 29 injured.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
Meanwhile, the prime minister's media adviser Sanjaya Baru described as "incorrect" reports that Manmohan Singh has appealed to Left parties not to boycott Bush's visit to India.
The National Democratic Alliance, led by strong man Narendra Modi secured a whopping 352 of 542 seats, making it evident that his message of muscular nationalism, security and Hindu pride had worked wonders.
Shah said the government was committed to ensure development in the country.
Left parties on Monday agreed to consider government proposals to divest small percentage of equity in non-Navratna profit-making PSUs on a case-to-case basis.
Parallel to this, the ruling Telugu Desam has been organising rallies across the state in solidarity with its MPs.
Among those attending the meeting from the government side were Defence Minister AK Anthony, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. The Left parties were represented by the Communist Party of India's A B Bardhan and D Raja, and the CPI-M by Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechuri
Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, and Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy lent support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government's fight with the Centre.
The Communist Party of India Marxist, the largest among the Left parties, said the increase in FDI cap would lead to the outflow of Indian people's savings to lubricate speculative profits. It maintained that the Left had not allowed the UPA to take this decision for the past four years.
It was an eventful year for the Left parties capping over four years of love-hate relationship with Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition with which they severed ties on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The former UP CM also expressed his gratitude towards Mayawati, who was once his party's bitterest rival in UP.
Seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation under court supervision into chit fund scam in West Bengal, Left parties on Thursday accused the Mamata Banerjee government of opposing such a probe into the "unprecedented fraud" and failing to take any step to recover "hard-earned" savings of the people.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties on Friday slammed Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily for claiming to be under threat from oil import lobby, saying that the minister was concocting a story to help private firms gain from his proposal to raise natural gas prices.
Opposition and members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G on Wednesday demanded the ouster of chairperson P C Chacko for being "highly partisan" and asked Speaker Meira Kumar to replace him with a new chief. The JPC has 30 members, including Chacko.
Fresh from confabulations with AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa, CPI top leader A B Bardhan sees another opportunity for the Left parties to play a more effective role at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections next year.
A controversy erupted on Monday over business tycoon Mukesh Ambani being provided Z category security with Left parties condemning it as "unprecedented" while the Centre sought to defuse the row saying he will bear the expenses.
President Pratibha Patil has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet her on Thursday in the wake of Left parties withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance government. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique issued on Wednesday, hours after the four Left parties submitted letters snapping ties with the UPA government, said, "Keeping in mind these political developments, the President has requested the Prime Minister to meet her tomorrow to have his views."
Condemning the Hyderabad blasts, the Left parties on Friday warned against any "preconceived notions" about probable culprits or attempts to communalise the incident, saying several innocents have been imprisoned wrongly and released later in earlier cases.
Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for not supporting the United Progressive Alliance government's efforts to pass a resolution in Parliament on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and rejected accusations hurled at the Congress.
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