Left won't pull down UPA govt: Karat

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is angry with the foreign policy of the Manmohan Singh government, particularly the 'strategic alliance' with the United States, and has warned that it will have to pay a 'price' for it.  

"The strategic alliance with Washington has gone beyond normal ties and close relations," according to the party general secretary Prakash Karat, who dismissed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assertion two days ago that there was basic shift in the foreign policy.

He said at one time post-July last year's nuclear agreement with US, it seriously considered whether to continue the support and the government was told about it.

"There is a deep-rooted sentiment drawn from our experience of the freedom struggle about imperialism. In general, people react to this. The BJP underestimated it. We made it a big issue in 2004. There is great patriotism in this country. What I am saying is that let them (United Progressive Alliance) not underestimate that (patriotism)," Karat told PTI, referring to the Parliament resolution against sending Indian troops to Iraq during the tenure of the BJP-led government.

"And if we feel that the government is not protecting the interests, our vital interests, national interests, we will go to the people and the price will be paid later. What I am saying is that the foreign policy is of major concern to us," he said.

During the interview, the youngest-ever general secretary of the CPI(M) spoke on political and economic issues, including the coming assembly elections, his disappointment over government rejecting alternative policies of the Left for raising resources, trade unions in IT sector and SEZs.

Asked if at any time the Left had seriously considered breaking the support to the government in the last two and a half years, Karat said: "Well, on foreign policy, definitely yes. Iran, and around that time, post-July 2005, have been the period when our party leadership discussed that if this is the direction in which the government is going, it will be difficult for the Left to sustain our support."

He said this was discussed seriously within the party and also with the UPA leadership 'once or twice.'

Karat said the Left was of the opinion that it was not in the country's interest to get into such an agreement with the US, the overall trend for which was laid by the previous Vajpayee government.

Asked why the Congress-led government was doing this, he quoted the prime minister as saying it was in India's vital interests and it fulfilled 'our basic objectives.' Calling for re-inventing the foreign policy, the CPI(M) leader queried whether India should bind all its energy needs to America.

"We can build good ties with the US but we should also keep other windows open. We are unable to answer questions on the foreign policy easily to people... that a government supported by Left is getting closer to the US," Karat said.

Earlier, he made it clear that the Left will not withdraw support to the government and it was for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the party to worry about the impact of its policies in the elections.

"I hope Sonia and the Congress party is very alive to this and they will also think about it. This is a coalition government and the Congress is in a minority in Parliament. The political viability and the strength of this government depends on how it sustains and expands its popular support," Karat said.

The coming assembly elections in four states, including Uttar Pradesh will not have a direct impact on the government but will have an impact on the political alignment and correlation of forces. I don't think it will have any impact on the government. Definitely, what happens in UP will have an impact on the national scene," the CPI(M) leader added.

To a question whether the assembly elections will throw up the possibility of a strong Third Front, he said the third alternative, which they wanted to forge, was not dependent on elections as it was being conceptualised as a long-term proposition.

The main objective in that was to form a Front of parties on a platform of common policies and not to work as an electoral alliance for short-term political gains. In this context, Karat said he had told Telugu Desam Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu that they should work first on policies of the Front.

Asked whether the appointment of Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony as External Affairs and Defence Ministers respectively was an attempt to mollify the Left, Karat said that the appointments were good but the Left was not involved in the process.

To a question whether the Left parties were guaranteeing the longevity of the government out of fear of BJP, the CPI(M) leader shot back that his party no longer feared the possibility of BJP coming back to power.

"Even Advani does not believe this will happen," he said, adding that the Left was not beholden to the UPA or to the Congress.

"We are not in the government. Neither do we expect the UPA government to adopt our policies," he said.

To a specific query whether the government has committed major deviation from the Common Minimum Programme, he said there was lack of political will to go through implementation of the CMP.

"They are not ready to find the resources for implementation of the CMP. The Government and the Finance Minister expressed rigidity. They rejected 13 proposals we had given for resource mobilization," he said.

Asked to compare the BJP-led NDA government with the present dispensation, he said the UPA government was a few steps right while its predecessor was extremely right. The tendency, however, is to go along with the same policies.