New Delhi, Nov 6 The Left parties today decided to oppose the Union Government's decision to disinvest 10 percent shares in all profitable public sector units.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India's A.B. Bardhan, Revolutionary Socialist Party's (RSP) T.J. Chandrachoodan and Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas signed the joint statement.

"The Manmohan Singh government has embarked on this patently anti-national step along with measures to remove the FDI limit in various sectors and open up more areas to foreign capital including vital sectors like the media," said the joint.

"(With this) the Congress-led Government has laid out a road map for the privatisation of the public sector units as it will require only a small step to bring down the Government stake to a minority, that is below 50 per cent," the joint statement added.

The Left parties also asked to "all patriotic forces" to demand cancellation of the disinvestment measures.

"The Left parties will actively mobilise and lend support to the struggles of the public sector employees and the working class against disinvestment," the statement said. (ANI)