From correspondents in West Bengal, India, 04:01 PM IST

Thousands of West Bengal's ruling Left Front (LF) activists Monday marched in an 'anti-imperialism' rally in Kolkata and Siliguri, protesting price rise, the Manmohan Singh government's foreign policy and the India-US nuclear deal.

The rally was kicked off at the Park Circus point in central Kolkata and at Siliguri town in Darjeeling district.

People from south Bengal districts took part in the protest rally in Kolkata and those in north Bengal participated in the one at Siliguri, Left Front activists said.

State Left Front chairman Biman Bose earlier said: 'We'll raise the issue of inflation, price rise, Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's foreign policy and the civil nuclear deal in the rally.'

Protesters from all four Left parties - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Forward Bloc (FB), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) - marched across in the two places, waving party flags and holding placards that read: 'We want independence, sovereignty and peace'.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)