What is your assessment of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament?

The government has listed 25 bills for consideration and passing and 10 for introduction. This is unrealistic for such a short session. Also, important bills like the Food Security Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill are not listed.
Besides government legislations, there are several issues that political parties would like to raise, such as inflation, unemployment, price rise, agrarian crisis, increasing atrocities against SCs and STs, violence against women etc. The country is passing through a very serious crisis. There is also a demand that the government should come up with a White Paper on the economy. There are pressing foreign affairs issues such as the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. The Left parties want Parliament to function smoothly and discuss all these serious issues.
The government itself is responsible for the current uproar as it has breached an assurance on the floor of the House. It went ahead and notified FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in multi-brand retail when it had said that all stake holders, including political parties and all chief ministers, would be consulted before a decision is taken.

But the government is entitled to an executive decision on this.

It is a major policy decision. The government should not betray Parliament. The government thinks that FDI in multi-brand retail is good for the country. But we think that it will jeopardise the employment scenario. It will directly affect four crore people employed in the retail
sector.

So you have major differences with the government on crucial decision. Why didn’t you support the no-trust motion moved by the Trinamul Congress?

Under the rules, a no-trust motion should be supported by at least 50 MPs in the Lok Sabha. The entire Left has only 24. We have taken a realistic approach in the given situation. But there is wide opposition from all parties on the FDI issue, including the government ally DMK (Dravida Munnetra Khazagham). Therefore, a debate through a voting motion will reflect the sense of the House.

But Mamata Banerjee has charged some Opposition parties with bailing out the government by not supporting the no-confidence motion.

This government has lost political and moral authority and it has to go. But we do not have the numbers for a no-trust motion. Hence, we have moved to other strategies such as a debate that entails taking a vote. If the government loses, it is a moral embarrassment.

Your party MP Gurudas Dasgupta had earlier moved a no-trust motion. Then what forced the CPI to change its decision? Was it because you failed to form a consensus within the Left?

This is a wrong understanding. When the session is convened, MPs may give individual notices on various issues. But, finally, when issues are identified, their respective parties take a decision and that prevails. The Left stands together in both Houses.

Important legislation is listed in the Winter Session, such as the Pension Bill. Will you cooperate with the government on this?

We don’t agree with the clauses in the bills on pension and insurance. Like in the case of Walmart on the FDI issue, the government is allowing multinational companies into pension funds to loot our people’s life-long savings.

There is talk of early Lok Sabha polls. Do you think the UPA-2 government will last the full term?

It appears difficult. There is economic, political and social crises in the country, and the government is neck-deep in corruption. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his address to the nation, compared the crisis to the one of the 1990s. In fact, he should be ashamed of this. As finance minister, he was responsible for the crisis of the 1990s. And now he is following the same neo-liberal economic policies which have already caused havoc in the US and Europe.

Are the Left parties ready for an early poll in the light of their major setback in West Bengal in the last Assembly election?

We will regain West Bengal. Consider Jhangipur. The Left lost only by a slender margin. The point is not whether a party is ready or not. Every party will have to face election if the government falls. The present government stays in office only by default. We have to wait and see how the situation emerges.

There is talk of a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance to be formed after the polls. How do you see the changing equations?

The Congress and the BJP have the same understanding of economic policy. As the principal Opposition party, the BJP is in complete disarray. It can’t be said that the Congress’ failure will automatically lead the BJP to victory. India is not a bipolar polity. The Congress and the BJP cannot represent India in the true and full sense. There is a definite space for other social and political forces, including the Left. The regional parties cannot be wished away as they have a significant say on national issues. The Left’s efforts should be to move regional parties to left or left-of-centre positions. We will have to wait and see what kind of a coalition will emerge. But there will definitely be a coalition.