NEW DELHI, 27 May 2004 — The new ruling coalition yesterday reached a broad consensus with communists and other allies on a common agenda for the government during marathon talks. It also elected Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the 20-party coalition called the United Progressive Alliance.
During the crucial four-hour meeting at the prime minister’s official residence, 7 Race Course Road, Sonia Gandhi was elected the chairperson of UPA unanimously.
It was a “very good meeting,” RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav said, during which detailed and comprehensive discussion was held on all issues raised by allies and supporting parties point by point. “We are all united to serve the people and the nation,” Yadav said.
Sitaram Yechury, senior leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), told reporters. “We broadly agreed on the common minimum program which will be announced today,” he said.
The program will focus mainly on economic issues and support policies promoting growth, but will also tackle foreign, education and other areas.
Senior communist leaders called on Gandhi and discussed the government’s agenda. Prakash Karat, a communist leader, told reporters they wanted a consultative committee to be set up so that the allies were taken into confidence on major policy decisions. Communists said their decision to stay out of the ruling alliance was dictated by politics in the eastern state of West Bengal, where Congress is its chief opponent.
The Congress-led coalition and its powerful leftist allies agreed to push ahead with economic reforms and place Asia’s third-largest economy on a 7-8 percent growth path.
But the Common Minimum Program, the bedrock of the new government’s policy finalized after four hours of negotiations, was soft on privatization, saying there would be no asset sales of profitable state firms. The coalition will retain majority control in state-run banks and also calls for a review of the privatization of profitable ports and airports. “Profit-making public sector units will not be privatized. In case of privatization of loss-making units, consultations will have to be held with worker organizations,” a senior coalition leader said.
It promises to continue with food and fertilizer subsidies for the poor in line with the coalition’s pledge to carry out reforms with a “human face”. The document says the new coalition will also promote foreign investment in the country if it creates jobs, spurs technology and increases productivity.
The coalition supports a healthy stock market but calls for a strong regulator to check volatility in financial markets. It will seek to protect the interests of pensioners and salaried class, but the document does not lay out a road map.
Apart from economic issues, the alliance calls for a repeal of a tough anti-terrorism law that the former Hindu nationalist-led coalition had introduced and which critics said had been misused. It also calls for strengthening relations with the United States, Europe, Russia and China.
The policy document called for a more forceful articulation of support for Palestine after the Bharatiya Janata Party-coalition was seen to have veered close to Israel.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed Jyotindra Nath Dixit, a former diplomat, as National Security Adviser, yesterday. Dixit, 68, is a former foreign secretary, the top diplomatic post in the country.
Also, US President George W. Bush called Manmohan Singh yesterday and congratulated him on his appointment, also pledging to strengthen bilateral relations. An Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said both leaders agreed that their respective national security advisers would remain in touch with each other and agreed on other measures to deepen ties.
