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Left to rejoin UPA Coordination Committee

     New Delhi: The Left parties have decided to rejoin the United Progressive Alliance-Left Coordination Committee meetings, in response to a communication from the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. This decision came today after a meeting of four Left parties CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc and the RSP to consider the assurance given by the UPA chairperson to withhold the disinvestment of BHEL. "Sonia Gandhi in her reply to our June 26 letter has assured us that shares of BHEL would not be sold. Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured that the shares of BHEL and other 'Navratnas' would not be sold. Considering the assurances, we have decided to rejoin the Coordination Committee meetings," said CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan.

     The Left parties have not attended any coordination committee meeting since July this year when the UPA Government decided to offload 10 per cent of its equity in BHEL, which 'was a violation of Common Minimum Programme (CMP). They made it clear that they would resume participation in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meetings only after a "categorical announcement" by the Government that there would be no disinvestments in the Navratna PSUs. The meeting was earlier slated to take place on October 10 but had ato be postponed on the request of Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas, who was in Kolkata. However, as per an earlier announcement by CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan and CPI(M) Politbureau member Sitaram Yechury, the Left parties, Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (Secular) held a meeting on October 10 to set up a 14-member committee to launch a national campaign against the government's decision to vote against Iran at the IAEA. The Left parties will also hold a National Convention and a seminar on October 28 on the issue.

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