Politburo says Karat can skip day-to-day matters, play overall supervisor

The CPM, in the meantime, has convened a meeting of its Left allies on Tuesday to take a call on Left participation in the UPA function to mark one year of the Manmohan Singh government.

At its meeting, the politburo evaluated the UPA government’s performance and underlined the differences the CPM has on economic issues with the ruling coalition.

Though former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu stepped out and said that his party ‘‘may not attend the UPA function’’ on May 22, there were indications from party higher-ups that it wasn’t the final word on the subject.

A section within the CPM and the Left bloc is not in favour of alienating the Congress further though majority leaders, including CPI’s A B Bardhan, do not want any overt show of camaraderie with the Congress at present.

The Indian Express had reported yesterday that there were several overtures from the Congress itself with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi personally calling up Jyoti Basu and asking him to attend the UPA dinner on May 18 where a report card is expected to be finalised.

Reached for his comments, Prakash Karat said: ‘‘No final decision has been taken as yet. The media is playing up the issue. What the UPA is having on May 22 is a small function where a publication would be released. The Left parties will meet on May 17. On May 18, we shall definitely be attending the UPA meeting.’’ It was obvious from what Karat said that the situation was still a little unclear with the Left keeping up the pressure on the UPA and reiterating the degree of its unhappiness with the UPA’s economic policies.

To the UPA leadership, on the other hand, Left participation and even a show of proximity is of vital importance. According to the UPA, any sharing of a public platform would not only convey the solidarity the coalition partners share but also signal that they are united in their fight against the NDA.

But the banking reforms proposal towards the end of the budget session has upset the Left. In fact, CITU boss M K Pandhe was quite outspoken today: ‘‘We have so many areas of differences.’’

Whether or not the Left attends the May 22 function at Panchvati inside the Prime Minister’s residence on Race Course Road, it is amply clear that it would not be part of the government’s press conference and would brief the media separately on how it assessed the UPA government.