Kolkata: Veteran CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) leader Jyoti Basu today (Nov 26, 2004) said that Left parties would continue to pressure the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government through dialogue to reverse some of its "anti-people" decisions including hike in the prices of LPG and diesel and would not hesitate to raise the issue in the winter session of Parliament.

"I can't say now. We will first see how far they are going to accommodate our demands. We are supporting the Government from outside, we will raise (the issue) in Parliament to voice our protest over the decisions of the Government, which are not liked by us and which are against the interests of the people," Basu said emerging out of a meeting of the CPM State committee.

The former West Bengal Chief Minister said this when he was asked by newspersons what his party would ultimately do regarding the increase in freight rates by Railways citing the higher price of diesel and also hike in the price of petroleum products.

Besides Basu, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and the State secretary of CPM Anil Biswas attended the meeting. Basu said that the Left parties would meanwhile keep pressure on through dialogue with the UPA Government. He added that the UPA Government-Left co-ordination committee should meet regularly to thrash out their differences. "Perhaps they are meeting nowadays," he said.