Agreeing to disagree

It?s not all hunky dory between the Cong and its allies, as will be evident to anyone with any interest in current affairs. Issues on which they disagree.

It’s not all hunky dory between the Congress and its allies, as will be evident to anyone with even a passing interest in current affairs. Issues on which they disagree:

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Disinvestment: The PM was forced to stall disinvestment in Neyveli Lignite and NALCO following Tamil ally DMK’s threat of withdrawing support. The Left, which has been conducting an anti-disinvestment campaign, has claimed moral victory for the workers of the two PSUs.

Price rise: The government failed to check the steep rise in the prices of essential commodities and food items. The government also failed to check hoardings, which increased following the introduction of forward trading. Left parties have announced a week-long agitation starting July 13.

Privatisation: The Left parties continue to oppose privatisation of airports, the pension funds of government employees and of the mining sector, which they say, would render thousands of tribals homeless. But the government has forced its way through the privatisation of Mumbai and Delhi airports with non-metro airports to follow.

Food security: A matter of increasing concern, according to Left parties, is the erosion of food security under the UPA regime. The Left has also spoken against wheat import, in which the foreign trader is being paid almost Rs 100 more than the Indian farmer.

Communal situation: There have been communal flare-ups in Mau, Kargil, Goa, Aligarh, Vadodara and, this week, in Bhiwandi. The Left parties want the government to adopt the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill without any further delay.