CMP not dictated by allies: Cong

NEW DELHI, Jun 11 (UNI) The Congress today denied that it has been "compelled" to accept the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), saying its major policy statements have been on the party's agenda for the last several years.

The CMP does not stand for compromised minimum programmes as some forces were trying to project, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Salman Khursheed quipped at a seminar here.

Whether it is on privatisation, disinvestment, foreign investment, the position of the Congress has been very clear and it is amply reflected in the CMP, he said.

Reforms with a human face, a middle path in the economy, achieving balance between resource generation and their redistribution to secure justice to tribals, women, dalit and other disadvantaged groups have all been the crux of the congress policy and they have not been dictated by the party's allies, he said.

These issues have been discussed within the party intensively during last few years and have been documented, Khursheed added.

Khursheed said there might be some minor differences of perspective with the allies but the working of the United Progressive Alliance government was unlikely to be affected by any major differences over the CMP.

"In fact, the party wants that all allies should sit together and hammer out a common maximum programme instead of the minimum programme," he said.

Khursheed, however, said the Congress has no experience of working with a coalition and it will have to hold maintain a process of intensive dialogue with allies to sort out differences.

One major issue that has to to sorted out with allies was the 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies for which the Congress was fully committed but there were powerful groups that wanted further segmentation of the disadvantaged group for giving reservation.

He hoped the party will be able to narrow down differences with allies.

In this context, he praised the role of Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in refusing to stake claim for prime ministership.

By standing aloof from the government, she can keep the coalition intact, he said.

During the last few months, Gandhi has made concerted efforts to reach out to the civil society.

A government-civil society partnership was a must for good governance, he added.