But one person who has won they approval of the Left among these bourgeoise and pro-US top brass in the government is UPA chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
NEW DELHI: The Left leaders are difficult to please. They are angry with the UPA government for being less committed to the cause of the ‘aam admi’, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
But one person who has won they approval of the Left among these bourgeoise and pro-US top brass in the government is UPA chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. ‘Comrade Gandhi’, with her support to “pro-people, pro-farmer” (read pro-Left) and her stand on programmes like SEZs, 33 per cent reservation for women, RTI law, employment guarantee scheme and ‘garibi hatao’, is a darling of the Left leaders, who have conferred this sobriquet on this ‘Leftist’ leader in a Rightist party. “Sonia Gandhi is a Leftist, she comes from a country which has a strong Leftist presence,” said a senior Left leader. Though the Left has been critical of Indira Gandhi, they relished her “non-aligned”, but pro-Moscow foreign policy and some pro-poor steps like bank nationalisation. Now, recent actions of Sonia endeared her further to the Left.
Three recent instances: Her stand on the controversial SEZs, support to 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures and reviving Indira Gandhi’s slogan ‘garibi hatao’. Praising Sonia for the government’s decision to introduce the women’s reservation bill in the winter session of Parliament, CPI general secretary AB Bardhan was happy that it was “Sonia Gandhi supported us”, when they tried to get the government to agree to table of the bill in the winter House during the UPA-Left coordination committee meet. At the Nainital Congress chief ministers’ conclave last month, Gandhi, championing the cause of the ‘aam admi’, had warned that the poor should not be deserted in the emerging SEZs and that farmland should not be diverted for non-agricultural purposes, while proposing that farmers be given proper compensation for land.
It was music to the ears of the Left and taking cue from her, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath promptly changed his tunes saying, “SEZs would not be allowed on prime agricultural land.”
Even CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat betrayed a lurking praise for the ‘garibi hatao’ programme.
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