The ruling Congress Party on Aug. 4 conceded the demand of the Left, which supports Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government from the outside, to share information on key decisions to avoid “misunderstandings.”

The decision to communicate important policy decisions to the Left in advance was taken at the first meeting in New Delhi on Aug. 4 of the coordination committee formed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the government and Left parties, political sources said.

The eight-member panel, whose members include Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and six Left party leaders, agreed it should meet once a month and, if necessary, more frequently, depending on the issues that arise from time to time. The Left party leaders pushed their Communist agenda on economic reforms and opposed the move to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) caps in the insurance, telecom and civil aviation sectors.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee attended the meeting on behalf of the ruling coalition, while the Left parties were represented by Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Sitaram Yechuri (both Communist Party of India-Marxist), A.B. Bardhan (Communist Party of India), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc) and Abani Roy (RSP).

–– Indo-Asian News Service