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PM, Advani line up sell-off meetings

Ajay Singh in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani met late Tuesday evening to draw up a roadmap for meetings that will start the process of dispelling all political reservations on divestment.

The consensus appeared to be that meetings between Divestment Minister Arun Shourie and the administrative ministries - the ministry of coal and mines for the Nalco divestment and the petroleum ministry for the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation divestment - will be called by Advani in the next few days.

The expectation is that the presence of a neutral and senior "umpire" will make it easier to bridge differences.

The meeting, held at the Prime Minister's Race Course Road residence, assumes significance because despite the reiteration of the government of its commitment to economic reforms, resistance from some Sangh Parivar constituents persists.

Union Minister of Coal and Mines Uma Bharti was also asked to attend the meeting because of her public statement that though she was not opposed to divestment, her ministry had reservations which she wanted to express before the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister.

Bharti's complaint, in essence, is perceived to be the manner in which the divestment ministry is riding roughshod over the coal and mines ministry.

Sources in the government say Vajpayee and Advani are of the view that the disputes about the methods of privatisation must be resolved between the ministries concerned (the divestment ministry, on the one hand, and the ministries in charge of various public sector firms).

With Advani leaving no stone unturned to persuade Union Defence Minister George Fernandes to fall in line, efforts have now been directed to set the BJP (Bjaratiya Janata Party) house in order, especially bringing round Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and Uma Bharti.

These ministers have got an assurance from Vajpayee and Advani that their concerns will be taken into account in the new formula to be evolved for selling public sector firms.

At the same time, the RSS and its affiliate, the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, have also toned down the rhetoric against disinvestment and are now only demanding the setting up of a disinvestment commission to chart out a roadmap for the privatisation of public sector firms.

This should be an indication of the fact that the Sangh Parivar is not averse to the idea of disinvestment per se, any more.

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