Tuesday, February 14 2006 17:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kochi: Asserting that Left parties' were keen on a debate on the Iran issue, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan today (Feb 14,2006)said the Congress-led UPA Government was 'discussing and agreeing on amendments only in matters that required a vote in the Parliament'.

"The Government had discussed and agreed for amendments only on matters which required a vote in parliament, where it cannot get the law passed without the left parties' votes", he said at a press conference here.

Left parties had expressed their concern on various issues including FDI, telecom, Electricity Act, disinvestments and foreign policies, but the government had 'not listened to our concern' and went ahead with it, he said.

"This (Iran issue) is not to be taken for granted like that. All these matters where we differ, we will resort to a debate in parliament", he added.

The CPI General Secretary said left parties had conveyed to the Government that the discussion on the issue should take place in parliament, so that people would know the facts.

"The gap between the UPA Government and the Left parties will increase if the Government do not heed our concerns", Bardhan cautioned.

However, he also assured that the left parties, despite its differences with the government on various issues including its foreign and economic policies, are not going to pull down the Government.

Even Governments, which had majority in the Parliament, could not complete their term, he said, adding, "Therefore it does not depend only on supporting parties".