Comrades 'wrest' aam admi plank
There seems to be no love lost between the Manmohan Singh government and Communists as far as Indo-US bonhomie goes.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: There seems to be no love lost between the Manmohan Singh government and Communists as far as Indo-US bonhomie goes. As if that’s not enough, the CPM has now opened another front against the Centre. After the completion of the current agitation against the government over the joint naval exercise, the party will launch a week-long campaign against the government’s economic policies from September 9-15.
The attempt of the Left will be to dent the Congress’ aam admi plank. The “aam admi is getting a raw deal” slogan, according to the comrades, will strike a chord in these times of high inflation. The issues in this bouquet include price rise, wheat import scandal, mismanagement of the PDS, SEZs and agrarian crisis.
The Left, which is planning to shift gear when the government takes the next step on the nuclear deal, must be hoping that a high-voltage campaign against the Centre will help undo some of the “disadvantages” of its three-year long association with the Congress. As the Congress is Left’s principal rival in three major states, the blitzkrieg against the Centre is expected to keep the Left in good stead.
Although the Communists have been making perfunctory noises against the government over issues such as price rise, they have so far been refraining from doing anything that would hurt the interests of the Centre. Even when the rate of inflation hit an all-time high, the Left resorted to some low-key protests.
But after the price rise issue contributed to the Congress’ defeat in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the Left had upped the ante and joined those demanding a mid-term course correction. A section within the camp even suggested that the issue should be used for distancing itself from the Congress.
The political realignment in West Bengal could make the Left more aggressive against the Congress. The state is all set to witness the formation of an anti-Left alliance with Mamata Banerjee on Thursday saying that her party was no longer with the NDA.
The attempt of the Left will be to dent the Congress’ aam admi plank. The “aam admi is getting a raw deal” slogan, according to the comrades, will strike a chord in these times of high inflation. The issues in this bouquet include price rise, wheat import scandal, mismanagement of the PDS, SEZs and agrarian crisis.
The Left, which is planning to shift gear when the government takes the next step on the nuclear deal, must be hoping that a high-voltage campaign against the Centre will help undo some of the “disadvantages” of its three-year long association with the Congress. As the Congress is Left’s principal rival in three major states, the blitzkrieg against the Centre is expected to keep the Left in good stead.
Although the Communists have been making perfunctory noises against the government over issues such as price rise, they have so far been refraining from doing anything that would hurt the interests of the Centre. Even when the rate of inflation hit an all-time high, the Left resorted to some low-key protests.
But after the price rise issue contributed to the Congress’ defeat in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the Left had upped the ante and joined those demanding a mid-term course correction. A section within the camp even suggested that the issue should be used for distancing itself from the Congress.
The political realignment in West Bengal could make the Left more aggressive against the Congress. The state is all set to witness the formation of an anti-Left alliance with Mamata Banerjee on Thursday saying that her party was no longer with the NDA.
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