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After insurance victory, Left to oppose UF further

Buoyed by Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram's defeat over the Insurance Regulatory Authority bill in Parliament, the Left parties plan to launch an offensive against other important legislation that the United Front government plans to introduce in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.

Senior Communist leaders told Rediff On The NeT on Thursday that the Left parties will oppose the amendment to the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973 and the bill seeking to regularise out-of-turn allotment of houses to government servants.

"The government's failure to pass the IRA bill proves that Chidambaram completely disregarded the need for a consensus in a 14-party coalition like the United Front," says Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta.

The CPI MP says the acute embarrassment on Wednesday caused by the insurance bill is an indicator that the Gujral government cannot push radical economic reforms without a minimum degree of political agreement.

Left leaders also feel the IRA bill fiasco stems from bad floor management in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and as the inability to thrash out crucial issues during the current session of Parliament.

CPI-M Politburo member S Ramachandra Pillai says a lack of consensus among the various UF constituents is taking a heavy toll on the three-month-old Gujral government.

"The main problem is that the UF parliamentary party rarely discusses crucial policy issues and that is why a fiasco like the IRA bill happens," he said. Pillai felt it strange that the Gujral government is keen to introduce bills that the Left parties are opposed to. "The UF government is a coalition and its various partners cannot head in different directions," he added.

With Chidambaram tripping in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Left Front now plans to bring up the Tamil Maanila Congress leader's lack of consensus on crucial economic policy matters among the coalition partners at the next United Front steering committee meeting.

CPI National Secretary D Raja said the Left wants the government to discuss the amendment to the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973 which will permit private investment in coal and lignite mining.

The move to open up the coal and mining sectors to private companies has been sternly opposed by the Left-affiliated trade unions. The Communist parties are also against the UF initiative to enact a law to regularise the out-of-turn allotments of houses to government employees against a Supreme Court order.

Raja says Chidambaram tried his best to ensure "a backdoor entry for private investors in the insurance sector in the name of setting up a regulatory authority."

The Left leaders are also peeved at the way ministers like Chidambaram have given short shrift to a host of issues by bypassing the UF's consultative mechanism. At the next UF steering committee, the Communists are all set to advise the prime minister to exercise better control over his ministers on crucial policy matters.

The CPI and CPI-M have been sniping at Chidambaram -- the UF's most ardent reformer -- all these months. Now many believe the IRA bill's withdrawal has given the Communists a handle to intensify their campaign against the finance minister by dictating terms and conditions to the Gujral government in the days to come.

The Communists have not also taken kindly to Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's statement that the prices of petroleum products will be hiked after August 15.

What the Left parties wants to make clear to the prime minister and the finance minister is that no major economic reform package can be pushed through in Parliament without their support.