Left and 5 non-NDA opposition parties to observe all-India protest day on August 23

NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare may have brought anti-Congress forces together in Parliament, but outside the Left is reluctant to share platform with the BJP. The Left and five other non-NDA opposition parties have decided to observe an all-India protest day on August 23.

The decision was taken at a meeting of leaders of the nine political parties - CPM, TDP, CPI, AIADMK, BJD, Janata Dal (S), RLD, All India Forward Bloc and RSP - here on Friday morning, a day after Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav reached out to all opposition parties with a proposal to jointly give a Bharat bandh call.

Yadav was hoping to bring all non-UPA parties, including the Left, together to take on the government on the corruption issue, particularly after the entire Opposition put aside ideological barriers and agreed on floor coordination earlier this week to target the UPA on Hazare's arrest. However, the unilateral call by the nine parties to observe a protest day is a clear message that they want to keep their distance from the NDA.

A statement issued after the meeting said leaders of the nine political parties noted that the UPA government has not taken any serious steps to curb high-level graft. "The Lokpal Bill introduced by the government in Parliament is weak and inadequate. Such a legislation will not establish a strong Lokpal authority. The nine political parties demanded that an effective Lokpal law be prepared and adopted," it said. They want the Centre to take other measures to curb corruption.