The Left parties will submit by July 10 to President Pratibha Patil their letter withdrawing support to the UPA government, Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said on Monday.
Days before the passage of the Finance Bill in the Parliament, Left party leaders on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded urgent steps by the United Progressive Alliance government to check growing prices of essential commodities. Top leaders of four Left parties, supporting the government placed six demands before him, saying these measures should be taken immediately to curb burgeoning prices.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday played down the Left parties' threat to withdraw support from the United Progressive Alliance government over the nuclear deal. Once negotiations are over on the nuclear deal the government will come to Parliament before operationalising the deal, Dr Singh said.
During the nearly two-hour meeting that lasted almost till midnight at 10 Janpath, Mukherjee, the government's pointsman on the deal with United Progressive Alliance allies and the Left parties, and Antony apprised Sonia of the talks they had with leaders of the constituents of the ruling alliance and the Communist Party of India-Marxist and CPI in the last two days. Emerging from the meeting, neither Mukherjee nor Antony spoke to the media.
The Left parties have steadfastly opposed the 123 agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation with the United States. The United Progressive Alliance-Left Committee on Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation was constituted to discuss the problems arising out of the provisions of the Hyde Act and its impact on the 123 agreement.
"Yes, there is truth in what you say," Rajnath Singh said when asked if the government was soft on China owing to support extended to it by the Left parties. "A complacent UPA is helping China's strategic expansion," the BJP president told reporters. "The manner in which the UPA government is busy placating China, it has put our strategic interests in jeopardy," he said.
When asked about the UPA government's apprehension about the possibility of Left parties taking stern action -- like withdrawing support to government on the issue of price rise -- Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI (M), in an exclusive interview with rediff.com, ruled out any such possibility.
The powerful Left members from states like Kerala and West Bengal have told the top brass that if the issue of price rise and terrorism is not handled in a politically savvy manner, then the countdown to withdraw support to the UPA government should start. Within both the Congress and the CPM, a debate is on over the future course of action. The Congress Working Committee is meeting on May 31 to discuss the Karnataka results, price rise and other hot issues.
'The Congress's arrogance and unrealistic claims have weakened the anti-BJP movement at the national level.'
Singh also said that lynching incidents have been happening for years and mentioned that the biggest lynchings happened in 1984.
"The two Lals (Advani and the Left parties) have joined hands and are strengthening the haathi (elephant)," SP leader Amar Singh told media-persons after attending a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance held at External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's residence in Delhi.
The march to the secretariat in Howrah district was organised by the Left parties to protest against what they called attack on democracy, and unemployment and lawlessness in the state during Trinamool Congress rule.
Three bills were introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid uproar with members from Left parties trooping into the Well to protest against rising prices of onion while other members raised the Telangana issue.
The Rajya Sabha was on Monday adjourned twice during the Question Hour as Samajwadi Party members stalled proceedings demanding special status to Uttar Pradesh while the Left parties raised the issue of rising onion prices.
'This government has time and again proved that they are not worthy of our support. That is why we are talking about withdrawing support at this stage. We have supported it for the past four years. But the government has not proved that it is worthy of our support. So we will have no other option but withdraw support.'
If there was one man who was responsible for pivotal role that the Left parties played on the national stage from 1989 to 2008, it was Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who passed into the ages on August 1. He was 92.
Taking part in the discussion on the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, Chidambaram emphasised on the need for nuclear power.
Describing the two-day nation-wide general strike as the biggest working class action since Independence, Left parties on Thursday warned the government that 'bigger actions' will follow if the demands raised by the workers are not immediately met.
Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan have successfully managed to blow the lid off the 'crony capitalism' that is flourishing in the country today, and in the process delivered a crushing blow to the UPA government. Sheela Bhatt analyses
The Left parties, which met in New Delhi on Friday, said they "would not do anything" till Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh came back from the G-8 summit in Japan next week.
The Left parties on Monday said they were now discussing the timing of withdrawing support to the UPA government as they feel it was determined to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal, an indication of which is the Prime Minister's trip to G-8.
CPI-M has rejected all arguments of the government so far to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. The party has firmly said that it believes once the IAEA phase is over, the deal will be on an 'auto-pilot' and even if India, a non-member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), does not approach the forum, the US would pressurise it to approve the deal.
The four Left parties that support the United Progressive Alliance government have already rejected the Bill, which has been approved by the Cabinet. Instead, they have asked for separate Bills for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
"The CPI-M, which is facing its downfall, is attempting to come back through violence," Shah said, adding that the BJP would reply to it through votes.
Amid sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left Parties for deferring a decision on whether Andhra Pradesh should be split to create a separate state, Congress Party on Monday said the issue surrounding the Telangana statehood demand is a very sensitive one and a decision in this regard would be taken at an appropriate time.
The prime minister pointed out that such infamous incidents occurred during the Congress rule.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties on Tuesday demanded separate debates with voting on Foreign Direct Investment in retail and related amendments in Foreign Exchange Management Act rules in Lok Sabha, but it was vociferously opposed by the government and rejected by Speaker Meira Kumar.
The saffron party will use Lord Ayyappa the same way it made use of Lord Ram in the north to take away the Nair vote and make electoral inroads in the state.
The BJP, Left parties and Trinamool Congress on Wednesday slammed the government for the hike in passenger rail fares and demanded its immediate rollback.
Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party also extended their support to the bandh call given by the Left parties.
Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
The Asom Gana Parishad's fears relating to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill are not misplaced. But does the party still matter in Assam's politics?
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday assured Left members that she has sought a "factual note" from Delhi Police on the reported lathi-charge by them on MPs seeking removal of Deputy Chairman P J Kurien who isfacing charges in the Suryanelli rape case.
The BJP chief said this had exposed the Left and added that his party opposed the deal with "honesty".
In a major breakthrough in the nuclear deal standoff, the Left parties on Friday relented and gave clearance to the government to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency for working out an India-specific safeguards agreement.
Parliament on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to expand the definition of "terrorist act" to include offences that threaten the country's economic security amid a walkout by Left parties, Janata Dal-United and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Also, the discussion on the India-United States nuclear deal is likely on November 27 or 29 subject to the availability of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Accusing the government of being under the influence of corporate houses, Left parties demanded a thorough probe into the CAG findings on the coal block allocation issue and an immediate debate on it in Parliament.
At least 10 CPI(M) workers were injured in a clash that broke out after activists of a right wing Hindu outfit attacked the Left party's headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday. The protest turned violent as scores of RSS activists clashed with CPM workers and started pelting stones at the party office where a CPI(M) Central Committee was meeting, police sources said.
The beginning of the month-long session will coincide with the vice presidential election, in which the victory of United Progressive Alliance-Left nominee Hamid Ansari appears to be certain.
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