New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (May 27, 2004) dismissed suggestions that his Government had backtracked on some economic issues because of pressure from the Left parties.

"I don't think we have backtracked on any issue. Even on the Electricity Act, there is only a commitment to review it. I think in any dynamic society the circumstances change and with the changing circumstances, we must have the opportunity to review what we have done. We cannot be simply satisfied with the status quo," Singh said after the release of Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government.

He also disagreed with a questioner that the CMP was a compromise document. "It is a document of the coalition partners and I think there is always a give and take."

"Life is not a straight line, it is a zigzag path," he said when asked whether he was facing pressures from the coalition partners on the women's reservation bill issue. He, however, expressed hope that the bill will be passed during his Government's tenure. "I am very much hopeful and I am committed to it."