The day after bite soundbite, Left trots out its own panel

The Prime Minister approved the six names proposed by the Left: CPM’s Surjeet, Yechury, CPI’s A B Bardhan and D. Raja, RSP’s Abani Roy and Forward Bloc’s Debabrata Biswas. The Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram are also going to be part of the committee.

‘‘The commitee will meet every Monday when Parliament is in session and otherwise meet twice a month,’’ Foward’s Bloc’s Devarajan confirmed.

On the issue of increased FDI caps, CPI’s D. Raja said: ‘‘We have told the government our view, now they have to coordinate and respond with suggestions.’’

In Kolkata, meanwhile, Yechury’s threat was echoed by West Bengal CPM state committee secretary Anil Biswas. He said that Left support of the UPA government hinged on the implementation of the CMP.

‘‘If the government sticks to the CPA which reflects the aspirations of the common people, we are with them, but if it does not do so, we are not with them. Let there ne no misunderstanding on that,’’ Biswas today said.

Yechury, also in the city, reiterated the party’s opposition to the proposal to hike FDI in insurance. ‘‘We are opposed to hike in FDI in insurance, telecom and civil aviation. We had opposed the IRDA Bill in 1996 but it was passed with Congress support in Rajya Sabha. We shall vote against if a Bill is brought in Parliament seeking to increase the FDI cap in insurance,’’ he said.

At a panel discussion on the Budget, he said: ‘‘We do not think such a situation (of the Left withdrawing support) will arise. It will be unfortunate if such a situation arises when we have to bite.’’

He said the party would give no ultimatum to the UPA government and if the insurance Bill was passed with BJP support, both the Congress and the BJP would stand ‘‘exposed.’’