Less than 10 days after publicly airing his grievance against the inclusion of foreign experts in the Planning Commission’s mid-term review panel, Jyoti Basu today pledged the Left parties continued support to the Government.Before leaving for Kolkata, the former Bengal chief minister told a few reporters at Banga Bhavan: ‘‘I am satisfied. I have told them (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi) that we shall continue to support this Government for five years.’’ Today’s crucial meeting between the UPA and Left turned out to be an expression of bonhomie. Yes, economic differences remained, but those were glossed over. The CPM wanted the Government to initiate the ‘‘pro-people’’ policies of the CMP. The Prime Minister listened. So did Sonia Gandhi. And the ‘‘sumptuous’’ meal arranged by the housekeepers at 7, Race Course Road, provided the right ambience for the anger to dissolve, for the differences to be brushed aside, at least for the time being.Billed as a significant meet, the lunch, hosted by Manmohan Singh, had only four invitees — Sonia, CPM general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Basu and CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury.Demanding more frequent UPA-Left coordination meetings, Basu said: ‘‘I have told them again not to make policy statements without consulting the Left.’’ He added: ‘‘Yes, we have differences. But we shall continue to support this government for five years.’’In fact, Yechury’s briefing before TV cameras made it clear that the meeting was held in a more-than-cordial atmosphere. He said that the issues raised by the CPM leaders were policy plans enunciated in the CMP and included the employment generation scheme, food-for-work programme, mid-day meal scheme and rural infrastructure projects.It was obvious that the two issues — FDI caps hike and inclusion of foreign agency experts in mid-term review panel of the Planning Commission — did not get the pride of place in the discussions. Basu said: ‘‘The Prime Minister is going to return to the country after a week. Then the UPA-Left coordination meeting will take place.’’Basu’s statement sent one clear signal — that the Left will rock this boat but is not prepared to sink it. His outburst, however, definitely has one purpose. It has prevented the Government from going ahead with increase of FDI caps. A section of the Left knows that this is only a postponement. That is why they are pleading for priority to pro-people schemes.
