After the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) maiden Budget on Thursday drew a subdued but token protest from the Opposition, the Government's biggest ally - the Left - is mounting pressure to roll back free market proposals.
Though much mellower a day later, Leftist Members of Parliament on Friday said they expected a rethink on some proposals.
A worried Government called for a dialogue with the Communists after their protests in Parliament - more strident than the Opposition - proved embarrassing.
"We have certain reservations, we expect the Government to consider our problems and rethink those issues," Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP Nilotpal Basu said on Friday.
The party has decided to "go to the people to mobilise their support" on reversing proposals that he said were "not in conformity with the people's interests".
However, as a partner of the Government, it faces the dilemma of not appearing too critical lest it be seen as inimical to the coalition's unity and stability. Perhaps that is why the Left criticism was much more toned down on Friday.
Basu, who had termed some sections of the Budget "very, very disturbing", indicated the Left would hold its peace inside the House until the dialogue with the Government.
{{/usCountry}}Basu, who had termed some sections of the Budget "very, very disturbing", indicated the Left would hold its peace inside the House until the dialogue with the Government.
{{/usCountry}}The Left has objected strongly to the decision to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in three critical sectors of telecom, insurance and civil aviation, and the non-increase of small savings interest rates.
According to the CPI-M, the raised FDI limit would compromise national security and cause an unnecessary outflow of foreign exchange through the repatriation of profits.
It also felt the move to increase the caps on foreign institutional investment (FII) in domestic debt instruments and in securities in certain sectors, and permitting banks to invest in capital markets would expose already sensitive markets to further volatility without benefiting the economy.
"Whether we will take it up in the House or not will be seen after we talk to the Finance Minister (P Chidambaram)," said Basu.
The smaller Communist Party of India (CPI) was disappointed that the Government had not raised provident fund interest rates.
CPI veteran leader Gurudas Dasgupta complained that the Government had neither paid much importance to taxing the moneyed class properly nor tried to address the problem of tax evasion.
At the same time Leftist trade unions are gearing up to launch a nationwide protest, the form of which they will decide in a meeting on Monday.
Secretary of the CPI-affiliated All India Trade Union Congress, DL Sachdev said seven unions would meet and decide what form of protest to adopt.
"Our MPs will take our voice to Parliament and we will also hold demonstrations all over the country," Sachdev said.
"Though we welcome the bent towards encouraging rural India and the agricultural sector, the general worker has not benefited much from this Budget."