Sunday, May 15 2005 19:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Communist Party Of India Marxist (CPM) today (May 17, 2005) hinted at the possibility of Left parties keeping away from the first anniversary celebration of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government on May 22 over "some differences" on the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

"It is their celebration. They will celebrate. I don't think that we can participate as there are some differences", veteran party leader Jyoti Basu told reporters after the conclusion of the party's two-day Polit bureau meeting in New Delhi.

He, however, said that there is a meeting of the UPA-left Coordination Committee on May 18 after which a final decision will be taken in this regard.

"On May 18 there is a meeting with them and then we will see the result", he said.

Polit bureau member and trade union leader M K Pandhe also said that the party had some problems in attending the anniversary celebrations, as "the occasion will be used by the Government to project their achievements" while CPM had reservations on the implementation of CMP.

"Government will be stable only if they work on the basis of the jointly agreed CMP and if they deviate from it there are bound to be problems", he said.

The two-day meet evaluated the scorecard of the UPA Government, which completes one year in office on May 22 and took stock of the political situation in the country.

It is also understood to have discussed the Pensions bill, employment guarantee bill and a bill on right of tribals.

The meeting also deliberated on the modalities to expand the party's base in the Hindi belt.