On middle path? CPM general secretary Prakash Karat at the Left meeting

New Delhi, July 4: A meeting of the Left parties to chalk out a strategy against the UPA government’s policies ended in a whimper this afternoon.

At the end of the two-hour meeting, the Left said it would launch a weeklong “nationwide movement” on July 13 against price rise to urge the Centre to end forward trading in foodgrain, pulses and other essentials.

The Left is calling its protest a “nationwide movement”, though it has a decisive presence only in Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

The Left parties have submitted a critical “report card” on the government’s performance in the last two years and are awaiting a response.

The government recently went ahead with its core policies, the Left’s pressure notwithstanding. The cabinet has increased prices of petrol and diesel and has decided to disinvest in non-navratna public sector undertakings like Nalco and Neyveli Lignite.

The Left, however, seems to be sticking to its policy of petitioning the government without being too aggressive. “It is regrettable that the UPA government has not so far taken any effective measures to check price rise,” the Left parties said in a joint statement after today’s meeting.

But the statement declared little that the Left has not said so long, suggesting that the group is not in the mood to send a strong signal to the government and set tongues wagging about the fate of the UPA.

The meeting discussed the US treaty for nuclear promotion. But it did not figure in the joint statement. “We will take up the issue in Parliament,” a Left leader said. The monsoon session begins on July 24.

The Left will demand a constitutional amendment to make it mandatory for the government to ratify in Parliament any treaty that it signs with a foreign country. At present, Parliament has no authority to reject or accept a treaty the government signs with a foreign country.