Seeking to project a united picture of the ruling alliance, the UPA coordination committee headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi will hold its first meeting on Wednesday.
The UPA has decided not to sell its shares in BHEL.
A meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee is being held on Thursday against the backdrop of the political crisis in Maharashtra that has seen cracks widen in the ruling Congress-NCP coalition in the state.
The preferred format would be for the top BJP leadership in the government to reach out to the alliance leaders on a case-to-case basis.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Monday dismissed as 'defunct and ineffective' the United Progressive Alliance -Left Coordination Committee and said it made little difference whether to continue in it or not. ''The UPA-Left Coordination Committee was formed for exchange of opinion between the government and Left parties on major policies. But it has now virtually turned into an ineffective and defunct body,'' CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose said.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will head a six-member United Progressive Alliance -Samajwadi Party Coordination Committee. The committee has Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony as its members.The constitution of the Committee indicates that the SP, like the Left, would support the government from outside. The development also suggests that they would exert influence like that of the Left.
The United Progressive Alliance on Monday announced the constitution of a coordination committee under the chairpersonship of Sonia Gandhi to ensure cohesive functioning of the alliance, a demand that was placed by ally NCP during its recent stand-off with Congress.
UPA-Left coordination committee meeting on Feb 13
The United Progressive Alliance coordination committee will meet on July 31 to finalise its stand on the vexed Telangana issue amid indications from Congress that carving out a separate state out of Andhra Pradesh is a foregone conclusion and that complexities involved in the process will be adequately addressed.
The Left parties' unhappiness over the functioning of the United Progressive Alliance government and especially its economic policies came to the fore on Monday with the Revolutionary Socialist Party deciding to withdraw from the UPA-Left coordination committee.
A convention would be held in Delhi at the end of October on the issue of foreign policy, he added. \n
The CPI-M on Tuesday warned the UPA government at the Centre would "face the consequences" if it went ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal. CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said the outcome of the discussion between India and IAEA regarding the nuclear deal would be conveyed to Left parties by the government on March 17 at the Left-UPA Coordination Committee meeting.
Details of the coordination panel, including its role, is likely to be announced in the evening.
The United Progressive Alliance is expected to put up a united face on Wednesday to counter opposition demand for resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Comptroller and Auditor General reports on coal block allocation and two other issues.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition at the Centre, which has been plagued by ally trouble, has finally constituted a coordination committee with all its alliance partners to hold regular consultations
Amid escalating tensions with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the Congress on Saturday said it was open to the idea of a United Progressive Alliance coordination committee to bring greater cohesion within the alliance. At the same time, it dismissed suggestions that the Congress was scared of Trinamool entering the poll fray in Uttar Pradesh or any other state.
A solution to the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party standoff appears to be in sight with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reaching out to NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday amid indications that a UPA coordination committee could be set up.
Amid talk of a special session of Parliament on the Food Security Bill, government said all options are open on the issue.
The UPA chairperson said that there would be an UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting on May 18 and added that they 'are looking forward to exchanging views on everything'.
The Left leaders are unhappy over the manner in which the UPA government is going ahead with disinvestment of profit\nmaking public sector companies or inviting foreign direct investment.
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.
Mamata Bannerjee, a key United Progressive Alliance constituent, has put the cat amongst the pigeons by demanding that the UPA set up a co-ordination committee to discuss important issues and decisions before they are made and implemented. She said the recent petrol price hike was undertaken without her consent.
The Left parties, however, opposed the privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
Among them is the situation in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.
"All international treaties on major issues should be ratified in Parliament," the CPI(M) said.
The United Progressive Alliance coordination committee is scheduled to meet in New Dekhi on Thursday, with the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra to rule the roost.
Come Saturday and there may be a battle on the streets of Hyderabad between the people of Rayalseema and Telangana.
The CPI-M leader was fluent in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, and also Malayalam. He was also well-versed in Hindu mythology, and often used those references in his speeches especially to attack the BJP.
Veering towards conceding the demand for a separate Telangana, the Congress has convened a meeting of its working committee, the party's highest policy-making body, on Tuesday after deliberations on the issue in the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee.
The Left parties would strongly raise the issue of hike in petroleum prices at the meeting of the coordination committee with the UPA government, which was postponed on Thursday due to the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Left parties on Sunday decided to suspend participation in the United Progressive Alliance-Left coordination committee\nmeetings to protest against the government's decision to go ahead with disinvestment .
The Congress party's reported proposal to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh has those not in favour of the move, especially in the Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions, up in arms.
There is speculation that TRS president Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to get a portfolio in the Cabinet.
Ahead of the United Progressive Alliance-Left coordination committee meeting on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the government on Saturday expressed hope that the differences with the supporting allies on the issue will be resolved. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Chandigarh that he was engaged in talks with the Left on the deal to sort out the matter.
Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday expressed grave disappointment over the railway budget with its chief Sharad Pawar telling a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee that Mumbai has been neglected, which is "not acceptable".
He will seek to finalise a coordination committee between the alliance and Left parties by Sunday.
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