Prakash Karat, the CPM general secretary

New Delhi, May 24: The CPM has slammed the UPA government’s third-anniversary report card, saying the Centre’s policies were only helping the BJP-led Opposition.

In a scathing editorial in People’s Democracy, the party has asked the ruling coalition to do some introspection. The piece, to appear in the weekly’s forthcoming issue, was released ahead of Friday’s politburo meeting.

The write-up accuses the UPA of “ignoring” the promises it had made in the common minimum programme (CMP). “Even after crossing the halfway mark (two-and-a-half years in power), the non-implementation of crucial CMP promises is, in itself, the most disappointing.”

The economic reforms have come under fire. The party is critical of foreign investment in retail and insurance, moves to get private players in management of pension funds and greater takeover room for foreign banks.

The CPM has also picked holes in the way the government has tackled communalism, internal security and foreign policy issues. It speaks of several laws that were to have been enacted, but have remained in limbo.

The paper stresses that the UPA was formed mainly to keep communal forces at bay. “However, if the UPA’s policies are benefiting that very communal combine, it is tantamount to felling the tree on which one is sitting!’’

The paper expresses “distress at the continued neglect” of the farm sector, saying the Centre has not fulfilled the promise of a “substantial hike” in investment in rural infrastructure and irrigation.

It does not pull punches on inflation, either. “In a situation of rural distress and continued suicides, to argue that prices are rising because people have more money is merely ridiculous. It smacks of the infamous statement of the Queen during the French Revolution that people should eat cakes if they have no bread!”