Left, UPA leaders to talk oil hike

Focus will be on the two contentious issues of price increase of petroleum products and Patents’ Amendment Bill when the Left leaders m...

Focus will be on the two contentious issues of price increase of petroleum products and Patents’ Amendment Bill when the Left leaders meet the UPA leadership, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and the alliance chairperson, Sonia Gandhi for a breakfast meeting Wednesday morning.

Leaders of the four Left parties met among themselves for a brief while this evening to discuss the issues they would take up with the UPA leadership. The Left is interested in two key policy domains, leaving dormant the FDI issue. One is patent and the other the government’s electricity policy proposals. Tomorrow, economic policies will be in focus and some of the leaders are bent upon insisting that the EPF rate be returned to 9.5 per cent.

In the case of patents, Left believes that the Government should be very careful before signing international agreements. Forward Bloc leader, Debabrata Biswas, who briefed sections of the media today after the meeting, said that the government should exercise extra caution because the Indian pharmaceutical industry would be badly hurt. Also, there is the fear of shortage of key medicines in the country.

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The Left leaders had prepared a note on their view of the patents’ policy proposal and had forwarded it to the UPA leadership more than a week ago. It may be recalled that the last UPA-Left coordination committee luncheon meeting fell through because of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat’s death. The Left leaders went into a huddle that morning and informed Race Course Road at the last moment they were not coming.

Left sources said today that the leaders have worked further on the patents proposal they had sent a week ago and made some additions. After the meeting with Union Commerce and Industries Minister, Kamal Nath last week, the Left leaders had sounded conciliatory. But, it seems that the Left has hardened its stand on patents.

On the electricity front, the Left is adamant. It has been citing the Enron experience over and over again, opposing even partial privatisation of the State Electricity Boards.

Biswas said the Left had waited for a long time to get a positive response from the government on retaining the old EPF rate.