Hyderabad, March 23: The Left today said it had played “sentinel of people’s interests” in the four years that the UPA had led the country on a “highly iniquitous and socially unjust” path.

“Together, the Left has endeavoured to check and stall some of the more harmful measures proposed by the UPA government and acted as sentinel of people’s interests,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said.

Speaking as a fraternal delegate at the 20th CPI congress, he said it was time the Left gathered democratic and secular forces that would be a third political alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

“A Left initiative is required for creating and presenting a third alternative before the people,” he said at the congress, which attacked the UPA on a slew of policies, including bringing in FDI in retail, labour reform, privatisation of pension and the nuclear deal.

Taking credit for having opposed many of the UPA’s financial policies, Karat warned the people to be careful about the impact of US recession on India.

“The depth of the crisis in the US is yet to unfold but has reached alarming proportions….” he said.

“If we are partially protected from the ravages of the financial crisis, it is due to the fact that the country has not yet gone for free unregulated flows of capital.”

Earlier, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan pitched for a third front as he trained guns on the Centre in his inaugural speech.

“Our party thinks it is time we make every effort to build a Left and democratic alternative to both Congress and BJP rule through common struggles on people’s issues,” he said.

Accusing the government of playing into US hands over the nuclear deal, he claimed the UPA had violated the common minimum programme that committed it to pursue an independent foreign policy.

“We are watching with deep concern the government’s policies which, step by step, are leading to a close strategic partnership between India and the US,” he said.

Karat said much the same thing during his speech, urging the Left to continue the battle “for disengaging India from the strategic embrace of the United States”.

Bardhan slammed the budget loan waiver for farmers, saying the acre ceiling had kept large sections out. Only accessibility to credit at four per cent could resolve their problems, he added.

He also demanded implementation of the Sachar committee report for minorities and reservation for weaker sections in the private sector.