How Left opposes but doesn146;t dispose

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel left his office quietly this afternoon, minutes before the Airports Authority of India Employees8217; ...

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel left his office quietly this afternoon, minutes before the Airports Authority of India Employees8217; Union, their supporters and special guest Sitaram Yechury of the CPIM were to air their opposition to the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

But Yechury, when he arrived, apologised for a sore throat and said he would be unable to speak for long: 8216;8216;But I have come to assure you that the CPIM is with you in your struggle.8217;8217;

Making no specific mention of Patel8217;s announcements on Wednesday for restructuring Delhi and Mumbai airports, Yechury only reiterated that he and his party would stick to their stand that profit-making PSUs would not be privatised.

8216;8216;The people are the owners of a PSU. The government is only the manager and a manager has no right to sell it. We even made this an issue in the elections and the NDA government paid for it.8217;8217;

Yechury raised three objections. First, on the ownership. 8216;8216;We are against ownership being passed on to private hands. This is public property and no government can take such a major decision.8217;8217;

His second concern had to do with security: 8216;8216;Airports are sensitive installations. We cannot compromise on their security. This along with ATC controls cannot be placed under a company.8217;8217;

And to wrap up, he said there were fears that if public assets like the Delhi and Mumbai airports passed into the hands of a foreign investor, someone else could call the shots.

Story continues below this ad

Indeed, Patel had addressed these concerns: 49 cap means that control will remain in Indian hands, ATC and security will remain with the government and the process has been named 8216;8216;restructuring and modernisation,8217;8217; rather than the P-word, so anathema to the Left.

Sharing the dais with Yechury, CITU president and CPIM Politburo member M K Pandhe, MP Dipankar Mukherjee spoke on the same lines. Pandhe told the union to organise a rally in the first week of July. 8216;8216;We will ensure your voice is also carried to Parliament,8217;8217; he told the lunch-hour gathering.

Meanwhile, CPIM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet has written to Patel, asking him to 8216;8216;shelve any plans to privatise airports in our country8217;8217;.