Left to continue resistance to UPA's reforms

KOLKATA: Even after its drubbing in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) on Thursday said the Left parties would continue to resist any move by the UPA government to implement fresh economic reforms.

"Congress' pro-reforms policy is against national interest and any move to implement economic reforms by the UPA government will have to be resisted," the CPI(M) said in an editorial in the party daily, 'Ganashakti'.

The party, it said, has to play a "responsible role" and Left parties will have to register protest inside and outside the Parliament "to project the common man's economic demands".

It claimed that the success of the UPA in the Lok Sabha elections was because of Left pressure for popular schemes like the NREGA, the act guaranteeing tribals' right to live in forests and social welfare.

The Left Front, it said, secured not much less votes than the 2004 elections, but seats dropped substantially.

"CPI(M) lost 25 seats in West Bengal and Kerala this election, compared to the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. The CPI(M) politburo has already called for introspection to detect reasons for such a failure," it said.