Left can’t wait to filter policy, turns heat on Govt

‘‘The UPA should consult the Left before taking any policy decision. The proposed coordination mechanism should work,’’ CPI’s D. Raja said after the meeting.

On the FDI issue, the Left leaders seemed to have decided to adopt a wait-and-watch approach for the time-being. While maintaining that ‘‘the Government should reconsider its proposal to hike FDI in three sectors’’ in public, the Left seems to be actually waiting to see how much the Government relents, ‘‘whether they stop or minimise’’ the hike.

Sources said that CPI(M) Politburo member Prakash Karat also suggested that there should not be any parallel interaction between the individual Left parties and the Government or ministers.

RSP’s Abani Roy said, ‘‘We agreed not to meet individual ministers. If it is a policy matter of the UPA Government or a decision of the GoM, there should not be any interaction with individual ministers; it has to be conveyed to us through the joint coordination committee.’’

Earlier in the day, CPI leaders D. Raja and S. Sudhakar Reddy met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the FDI issue, while the party’s MP and trade union leader Gurudas Dasgupta shot off a letter to the PM on non-allotment of National Social Security Number to working class subscribers of EPFO.

During their meeting with Sonia, the CPI leaders not only reiterated their demand that the Government reconsider its proposal to hike FDI but also raised the Manipur issue. While the Congress chief made no comments on the FDI issue, she expressed concern over the alleged custodial death of Manorama Devi.