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Indian opposition could stall govt reform moves

Narayanan Madhavan

India plans to bring a series of bills to Parliament in a winter session that begins on Monday but opposition parties have vowed to block the government's privatisation moves, so derailing efforts to free up the economy.

Opposition parties say they will attack plans to privatise state-owned banks and enterprises.

"We are certainly going to oppose it (disinvestment). We are particularly exercised over the government stake in banks going down to 33 per cent," Madhavrao Scindia, a leader of the Congress party, told reporters.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's coalition government last week braved trade union protests to press ahead with plans for a bill to cut state stakes in several banks to 33 per cent from 51 per cent.

The ruling alliance could prevail in Lok Sabha, where it has a comfortable majority, controlling around 300 of the 545 seats.

But the bills may run into rough weather in the Rajya Sabha upper house, where no group has a clear majority.

Other bills expected to be introduced include a fiscal responsibility bill to limit government borrowings and a convergence bill to set up a common regulator to address the coming together of telecommunication, broadcast and Internet industries.

Another bill envisages establishing an ombudsman to probe corruption charges that involve holders of high public office. The government aims also to pass a much-stalled bill to reserve a third of seats in federal and state legislatures for women.

It also plans to present the draft of a law to ensure competition in industry, by setting up a Competition Commission of India.

The government may face criticism over its proposal to shed its equal control in carmaker Maruti Udyog, a 50:50 venture with Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp.

The cabinet approved the landmark proposal to cede management control, which involves no parliamentary approval, on Saturday.

Nilotpal Basu, an upper house lawmaker of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, said leftist parties would lambast the government on privatisation.

"Divestment in general, and particularly in banks, will face the severest resistance," Basu told Reuters. "The government says it will continue to have an overriding say in banks. It is a cock-and-bull story."

The government says funds from divestment could be used to cut public debt and control inflation, and also raise the capital base of banks suffering from bad debts and unproductive loans.

On the political front, lawmakers said Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani will face calls to quit over charges linked to the demolition of a Muslim mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya in 1992.

Advani led his party's movement to build a Hindu temple on the disputed site, which devout Hindus believe is the birthplace of the god Ram. More than 3,000 people died in riots across India triggered when Hindu zealots tore down the mosque.

Opposition leaders said they will cite the recent resignation of a junior defence minister who belongs to Advani's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after facing a murder charge in court as a precedent for the home minister to follow.

"How can there be different yardsticks for different ministers?" said a Congress lawmaker, who asked not to be identified.

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