Chennai, April 16 (IANS) The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government wanted to privatise nationalised banks, insurance companies and Navratna companies, but was stopped by the Left parties, which has helped protect the Indian economy from the financial meltdown, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader A.B. Bardhan said Thursday.
“The economic policies pursued by the central government has not benefitted Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims. Only a handful of people have become affluent,” Bardhan said at the AIADMK-led five party poll campaign.

He said the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policy has failed in the US, the country where the policy originated.

According to him, the Left parties, which were then supporting the UPA government from outside, stopped the central government from going ahead with privatisation of nationalised banks, insurance companies and Navratnas.

He said more than 20 lakh people have lost their jobs in recent times and the number is expected to increase.

Earlier, launching the poll campaign, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Prakash Karat said the Congress and the DMK have divided among themselves two sectors - defence and telecom - for scams.

“The central government has declined to order an investigation into the allotment of spectrum to mobile phone companies as the government has lost around Rs.100,000 crore (Rs.1 trillion) revenue.”

He said, two days before the announcement of the poll schedule, the government signed defence deals worth Rs.10,000 crore with an Israeli company which involves six percent commission that works out to Rs.600 crore (Rs.6 billion).

“The central government declined to order an enquiry despite our letters.”

“We have seen five years of United Progressive Alliance and six years of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule. The country is prepared for a non-Congress and non-BJP rule.”

Citing Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, he said the regional parties have formed an alternative to the BJP and Congress.