Even before the Left parties could rake up the controversy over divestment, members of the Divestment Commission, including its chairman R H Patil, tendered their resignations en masse to Arun Shourie, before he demitted office as the divestment minister.

Patil, along with four other part-time members, sent in their resignations to Shourie after the election results were announced, official sources said in New Delhi.

The resignations of T L Shankar, N V Iyer, V V Desai and K R S Murthy, still reported to be pending with the government, were sent in to enable the new government a free hand to reconstitute the commission.

The commission has virtually become defunct with only the member secretary remaining.

The Divestment Commission was reconstituted in 2001 after remaining dormant for two years, initially for a two-year period, and was given a year's extension till October 2004.

The commission, first set up in 1996-97, was a creation of the United Front government under the chairmanship of G V Ramakrishna.

The Left-supported UPA government has demanded scrapping of the divestment ninistry and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to keep the portofolio vacant though no final decision has been taken on its future.