The left parties in India are well-known for their theatrics and to make mountains out of mold hills. This statement was issued by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which I produce in full below:
The Manmohan Singh government has introduced a Bill in the Rajya Sabha to increase the FDI cap in insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent. This is a shameless move to facilitate greater control of the insurance sector by foreign insurance companies. It is shocking that the Congress-led government is taking this step at a time when the financial crisis in the United States has exposed the pernicious practices of the insurance and financial companies of the West.It still means that 51 percent of the insurance sector will still remain in Indian (and/or government) hands, enough to block any nefarious attempts by greedy capitalists to upend India's solid insurance sector and protect its employees from any competition whatsoever.
The CPI(M) denounces this move by the Manmohan Singh government which will harm the financial sector and import the crisis into our system. This confirms the fact that this government is more interested in favouring international financial capital at the expense of the country’s interests. The CPI(M) extends its full support to the strike on December 23 by the insurance employees against this Bill.
But just in case - and why waste a juicy political moment - insurance employees, almost all of whom belong to Left party-controlled unions, will go on strike, inconveniencing yet again the people who matter the most: their customers.
