Lalu goes anti-divestment

NEW DELHI: With railways minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav backing the DMK’s stand against disinvestment and the Congress unsure of the utility of pushing contentious issues, the Manmohan Singh government will now find it difficult to indulge in policy overlordism.

The government leadership, which expected a spot of indulgence from the Congress top-brass, had announced an ambitious agenda a fortnight ago. In an attempt to drive home its point that the Prime Minister will not allow policies to be held hostage to the known reservations of his allies, it had once again placed disinvestment on the table.

But with the DMK making it clear that it will not allow any forward movement on the proposal for divestment in Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Mr Yadav backing the regional ally, there are fears of intense policy-wranglings within the government and the allies. An emboldened Left has already begun attempts to enlist the support of allies for placing fresh hurdles.

Mr Yadav’s decision to join the anti-disinvestment campaign does not augur well for the government for other reasons as well. It comes at a time when the Finance Ministry has sought the Railway Ministry’s views on the proposal to divest 5-10% share in Container Corporation (Concor), where the government holds 63% stake.

Just like the mines minister Sis Ram Ola, who asked the Finance Ministry to plough back the proceeds from disinvestment in Nalco, the rail minister has said that the proceeds from Concor disinvestment should be invested in the railway freight corridor. This would be unacceptable to the Finance Ministry, which wants the divestment proceeds to go to the National Investment Fund.

On its part, the Congress and its leadership is not yet ready to intervene for sorting out the differences. There was expectation in the government that the party leadership will step forward to de-escalate policy tension but last Friday’s core committee directed the Prime Minister to handle the issue.

But not many in the party feel there will be an early resolution of the crisis. Many feel that as long as Ms Gandhi, who alone has the necessary political clout, watches the goings on from the sidelines, there could not be any settlement of the disputes.

At the same time, the Congress is mindful of the implications of the DMK’s success in getting the PM to rollback the disinvestment decision. Party leaders are not ruling out the possibility of more allies coming up with difficult demands.

As a matter of fact, partners like NCP are not quite happy with the attempts of the Congress to put the blame for the price-hike on its leader Sharad Pawar. The agriculture minister had himself given vent to his party’s irritation by threatening to stay out of the PM’s visit to Vidarbha.