Advani meets FM, Shourie on selloff, FDI

In a meeting called by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Divestment Minister Arun Shourie attempted to formalise the government's position on divestment and foreign direct investment, two issues on which the Sangh Parivar has strongly opposed the government.

The meeting, suddenly called by Advani on Friday evening evening, saw him closeted with Singh and Shourie for over two hours at his residence. Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande was also summoned to give formal shape to the government's position after the meeting.

Although there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting, sources in the government say it was summoned at Singh's and Shourie's request, to conclusively resolve certain contentious issues.

"The immediacy of the issues should be judged from the fact that Advani cancelled his scheduled programme of watching a movie," highly placed sources said.

While Singh has shown displeasure over Sangh Parivar's opposition to economic policies and has objected to certain BJP MPs' reaction to the implementation of the value-added tax, Shourie is irked by being repeatedly attacked by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Swadeshi Jagran Manch -Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh combine over divestment.

The combine's latest demand, expressed at a  recent meeting in Nagpur, for scrapping the divestment ministry appears to have been the last straw.

The combine unfolded a three-month agitation programme to oppose the government's policies on foreign direct investment and divestment.

Given Advani's stature in the government and his influence over the Sangh Parivar, Singh and Shourie discussed these issues with him to chart out a roadmap for future economic policies, sources said.