Left plans nationwide strike on price rise

Despite their abysmal show in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M)-led Left parties will once again try to hold the ellusive ‘Third Front’ together — this time through a call for a nationwide strike. The top Left leadership is likely to hold a meeting this weekend to persuade other “like-minded parties” to join them for a strike over the issue of price rise.

The Left parties had contemplated this idea during the initial days of the Budget session of Parliament, when a united Opposition backed by outside supporters of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were agitating and disrupting the two Houses over price rise. Now, the Left parties face a tougher task as the Women’s Reservation Bill — passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday — have fractured the opposition unity. The Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — staunch opponents of the women’s Bill — are accusing the Left parties for siding with the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Congress to pass the Bill. “The Women’s Reservation Bill is a conspiracy of the BJP and the Congress. The Left is also in the pipeline!” RJD boss Lalu Prasad alleged on Tuesday.

The Left parties are organising a rally against the price rise on March 12 in Delhi. The CPI(M) plans to host a follow-up meeting with the “non-BJP, non-Congress” parties within a next few days to organise an all-India strike. But the problem is: The Left had invited the SP and RJD to join hands for the proposed strike.