LEADERS of the Left parties — the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party — met the prime minister on February 26 and submitted a memorandum urging the government to take immediate measures to bring a food security legislation in this budget session of parliament, which would provide for a universal public distribution system and ensure 35 kg of foodgrains at not more than Rs 2 per kg. They also urged an end to the cash transfer scheme for the public distribution system.

The Left parties had conducted a signature campaign throughout the country and had collected over four crore signatures. Papers carrying these signatures were also delivered at the prime minister’s office.

Those who met the prime minister were Prakash Karat, S Sudhakar Reddy, Debabrata Biswas, T J Chandrachoodan (general secretaries of the CPI(M), CPI, AIFB and RSP respectively), Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat (members of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau), D Raja (leader of the CPI group in Rajya Sabha and Abani Roy (leader, RSP).