Left seeks BJP support to oppose disinvestment

After facing an united opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Monday over climate change, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ruling coalition today faced embarrassment as its ‘outside supporter’ Samajwadi Party (SP) joined the Left to stage a walk out in the Lok Sabha protesting the disinvestment policy of the government. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the Left had approached them with a renewed offer to join hands against the government on economic issues.

Although the government tried to show that the process of disinvestment had been going on for quite some time and the second UPA government was not embarking on any new project, a dissatisfied Left walked out of the House followed by SP members.

The Congress-led UPA was aggressive against the Opposition. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee bluntly told CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia, “Thank God we didn’t follow your policies. Otherwise, we would have been occupying your place (in the House) instead of leading the country today.” The Congress secured 206 seats in the 15th Lok Sabha while the CPI(M) registered its lowest ever tally with 16 seats.

Mukherjee tried to make it clear that he was not in favour of selling family silver to meet the grocer's bills. But the government had to resort to keep the proceeds of the disinvestment in the Consolidated Fund of India for three years as it needs more money to meet key social sector expenses. “We will be building hospitals and colleges with this money. Tell me, if you don’t want these things to happen,” Mukherjee told the Opposition.

The Finance Minister also said, “No government can continue to have this huge fiscal deficit. We have to return to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act as early as possible. What I am telling the states about fiscal management, I am trying to practise here.”

After the SP staged a walkout in Lok Sabha, Mukherjee held an informal meeting with SP general secretary Amar Singh. According to sources, Mukherjee is believed to have discussed various pending Bills including the pension (PFRDA) Bill with Singh. If the entire Opposition votes against a Bill in the Rajya Sabha the government will not be able to pass it. In the Lok Sabha, during the Liberhan debate, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj suddenly revealed that CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta had approached her four days ago to participate in a rally against the merger of SBI subsidiaries. “On Monday, Dasgupta said that we should be politically isolated but just four days ago, he had approached the same party to join hands to attack the government on economic issues.” Dasgupta tried to explain that while he ‘hates’ the ideology of the BJP, he wanted Swaraj to attend a rally as the BJP’s trade union wanted its leader’s presence.