PM puts his Left foot down

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday attempted to call the Left’s bluff when he asked a Left leader how long the allies would persist with their “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds” approach.

That Mr Singh is quite uncomfortable with the approach was clear when he confronted CPI’s D Raja on Tuesday with a pointed question: “What are your plans on the government? Are you proposing to bring us down?” Quite expectedly, Mr Raja shared with the Prime Minister the worst kept secret of the Capital: The Left is just not prepared to pull the rug from under Mr Singh’s feet.

In his interaction with the CPI leader, Mr Singh also gave vent to his irritation with the constant pinpricks from his Leftist friends. He told the CPI leader that the protests over disinvestment were shorn of merit. “We are not taking the government equity below 76%.” The Prime Minister also told the CPI leader that his government had undertaken a series of initiatives for reviving sick PSUs.

However, the Left is unwilling to abandon its by-now-familar anti-divestment rhetoric. This was clear when Mr Raja responded to the prime ministerial assertions by saying that the Left just cannot agree with the government’s position on the issue. “We are against any weakening of the PSUs.” He also reminded the Prime Minister that his finance minister has been talking about bringing the equity level further down to 51%.

The Left, which is buoyed by the support for its anti-divestment stand from the DMK, appears determined for a confrontation with the government. The Left parties are slated to discuss the divestment of government equity in Nalco and Neyveli Lignite (NLC) at a meeting here on July 3.

The DMK has termed the NLC divestment a breach of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The DMK has announced that his party would join the strike at NLC from July 4 if the Centre refuses to reconsider its decision. “I have requested the Centre not as DMK chief, but as chief minister of Tamil Nadu,” reports from Chennai quoting Mr Karunanidhi said.

The CPI said there was a need to take a relook at the government’s economic priorities. “The UPA should take note of the growing discontent and struggles already on in the country. It should reconsider its decisions so that a mid-term course correction of the policies can be undertaken”.