BHUBANESWAR, Dec 30: The United Front will come out with a common policy declaration for the coming general election, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Prakash Karat.Karat who was here to attend the 15th state conference of the party told newsmen here on Monday that the United Front steering committee will thrash out a common policy which will be an improvement of its Common Minimum Programmes.``The United Front would like to go to the people with a clear policy this time,'' he added. The CPM leader said besides the common policy declaration, the Left parties will bring out a `joint election manifesto' sometime during the first week of January. Apart from the joint manifesto, the United Front constituents are free to formulate their own manifestoes, he added.
Karat said Left parties would be meeting shortly to prepare the joint manifesto which would promise a change in the economic policies pursued by the United Front Government.
Outlining some of the features in the proposed
`Left Manifesto', the CPM politburo member said the Left parties would assure protection to domestic industries, and would prioritise streamlining and strengthening of the public sector units (PSUs). It will come out with an open declaration of priorities while inviting foreign capital investment, he said.
He said the central committee of the party which met in Calcutta for three days beginning from December 21 had decided to strengthen the United Front. The meeting also decided to make special efforts to increase the number of seats of the left parties in the twelfth Lok Sabha.
The CPM leader said that the Left has decided to forge an alliance with the DMK and TMC in TN. Stating that the UF will direct its fire against BJP, Karat said the UF would appeal to the people to defeat BJP and elect the Front members in large number to form the next government.
Coming down heavily on the BJP, Karat said it was no different from the Congress which was ``in the process of getting decimated''. The BJP is a poor
substitute to the Congress not an alternative, he remarked.
Ridiculing the suraj (good governance) promised by the BJP, Karat said it was trying to extend the Lucknow model to Delhi.
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
