Left allies threaten to defeat pensions Bill

The Left parties have threatened to vote against the federal government on the controversial pensions Bill in Parliament.

"We will oppose the Pension Regulatory Authority Bill on the floor of the Parliament. This is a money Bill. We do not want to embarrass the government," said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

As per the Indian Constitution, the government will have to quit if a money Bill is defeated in the parliament.

As the Congress-led government does not have a majority in the House without the support of the 61 MPs from Left parties, it will be forced to seek the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party if it wants this Bill passed.

The Bill will pave the way for the setting up of a private pensions fund, which the fund operators can invest in the stock market.

The Left parties such as the Communist Party of India-Marxists, Communist Party of India and the All India Forward Bloc are opposed to privatisation of the pension sector.

"Pension is a social security fund, in which private parties cannot be allowed to play," Karat said.

"We have already written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about this. Now it is up to the government to decide whether they want to go ahead with the Bill or not."

Pointing out that the survival of the Congress-led United Progressive Front depended on the continued support of the CPM and its allies, Karat said the Left parties would not bring down the government as their main objective was to keep the BJP out of power.

"We will continue to support the pro-people measures of the government. All we can tell the UPA is that the government should show by its performance that it is different from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)."