Irked by Indrajit's isolation, CPI may withdraw support to United Front

George Iype in New Delhi

The Communist Party of India is reconsidering its support to the United Front government after veteran CPI leader and Home Minister Indrajit Gupta was isolated by Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and other ministers on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.

The Communists feel their first experiment in sharing power at the Centre has not enabled them to influence governance or extend the party's base in a number of states.

Ever since Gupta and Agriculture Minister Chaturanan Mishra were sworn in as the first Communist Cabinet ministers in independent India, the CPI has been in a quandary over a number of crucial policy issues which it hoped to implement once it was in power.

While Gupta has raked up more controversies than any other minister in the Deve Gowda Cabinet, Mishra has been unable to implement some of the commitments the CPI promised in its election manifesto.

The latest controversy centering around Gupta was his announcement in Parliament last week that the law and order situation in UP under Governor Romesh Bhandari was 'heading towards chaos, anarchy and destruction.'

The CPI is angry that Prime Minister Deve Gowda, instead of defending Gupta and admonishing Bhandari, is isolating the former in government. The prime minister told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 'I cannot take action against the governor if a murder takes place in UP.'

"We are concerned that the CPI minister's efforts to improve the law and order situation in UP and other states is being blocked by other UF coalition partners," CPI national secretary D Raja told Rediff On The NeT.

The CPI leadership, he said, is taking up the question of proper communication between UF ministers with the prime minister and other senior Front leaders.

''No one will listen to a government if its top ministers speak in different languages on the same issue," Raja said.

CPI sources said the party leadership will be forced to reconsider its decision to take part in the UF coalition if the government continues to ignore its ministers.

But senior UF leaders are said to be disenchanted with Gupta. They say the home minister has been raking up unnecessary controversies instead of taking some brave initiatives in trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.

The CPI is also upset by the fact that External Affairs Minister I K Gujral, who is from Prime Minister Deve Gowda's Janata Dal, has lately been commenting on India's internal security more than the home minister.