Left To Consider Finance Bill Amendments Today

The Left parties will seek amendments to the Finance Bill, due to be discussed from April 30 in Parliament. They are likely to seek reversal of the opening up of health insurance, disinvestment measures and across-the-board tax cuts. They will also oppose the reduction in corporate tax.

The Left parties are scheduled to meet today to discuss the possible amendments they would like to have in the bill.

The Union cabinet last week decided to introduce the same Finance Bill that was introduced by the H D Deve Gowda government without any changes at this stage. The Left parties are likely to present a joint list of changes they want in the bill at the meeting of United Front steering committee, likely to be held in the first week of May.

While Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary H S Surjeet had termed the budget as elitist, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A B Bardhan had said that massive reduction in import tariffs would adversely effect the indigenous industries.

I would say it is an elitist budget which is going to benefit the upper layer of the population. There are a lot of concessions to the corporate sector and upper layer tax payers, big businessmen, monopoly houses and the foreign monopolies, Surjeet had said.

The Left parties also want greater allocation for the agriculture and social sector. They want some new taxes to mobilise resources so as to tackle unemployment, poverty and rising prices.

The other issue which is likely to figure at the meeting is the posture the Left parties should adopt vis-a-vis the Congress. While the Left parties are reluctant to abandon their anti-Congressism, other United Front (UF) constituents, particularly the Janata Dal (JD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), are eager to join hands with the Congress.

Bardhan said that anti-Congressism was not a faith for the Left parties, but opposition to the harmful policies of the party has been the Left's policy approach.

According to agency reports, CPI(M) politburo member E M S Namboodiripad said that it was almost impossible for the Left parties to stop criticising the Congress to ensure the survival of the I K Gujral government.

In a front page article in the party organ, New Age, Bardhan said that the Left's opposition to the Congress is not blind. Blindness is a handicap, and we plead no such handicap. With eyes open we have opposed the Congress and its policies, based on our class and political outlook, he said. Bardhan said, Does the Congress realise even now that it is the anti-people, opportunistic policies pursued by it and its records of corruption that has brought the country to this pass and decimated its own strength, while giving ground to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Akalis, Shiv Sena and so forth to come out in such strength?

About the proposed coordination committee between the UF and the Congress, Bardhan said, A coordination committee is not expected to dictate, or convert itself into an extra-constitutional authority. If and when it starts doing that, it will be time to ring the warning bell.

Surjeet had expressed similar views, saying that the committee would have no veto power and it would be a mere consultative body where policy issues would be discussed between the UF government and the Congress.