SEZ, price rise issues dominate UPA-Left dinner meet

POLITICAL BUREAU
Posted online: Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 0000 hours IST

NEW DELHI, MAR 21: Members of the Left and the UPA met over a dinner at
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence on Wednesday, the last day of
the first phase of the Budget session. Issues relating to price rise,
SEZ and Sachar Committee report were raised during the meet.
While the Nandigram issue was not touched upon, railway minister and RJD
supremo Lalu Prasad expressed concern over the price rise and trouble
across the country over the SEZ policy.

The railway minister also wanted the government to implement Sachar
Committee report at the earliest.

Speaking to the Left and the UPA members, external affairs minister
Pranab Mukherjee along with UPA members pointed fingers at the BJP-led
NDA for repeatedly disrupting the proceedings in the Parliament, sources
disclosed.

The dinner meet also decided that a formal UPA-Left meeting would be
held to discuss the SEZ policy and price rise, which resulted in the
debacle of the Congress in the recently concluded assembly elections in
Punjab and Uttaranchal.

However, no elaborate discussion took place over the issues. The meet
also chose to ignore certain contentious legislations including pension,
insurance and banking Bills.

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