Claiming that they were not consulted on the issue, the Left today charged that the 10 per cent sale of government equity in BHEL amounted to a ‘‘breach of trust’’, as the common minimum programme did not have any room for the disinvestment of a Navratna.But as the block complained that this was the ‘‘beginning of privatising profit-making PSUs through the backdoor’’, it is a fact that another Navratna, the National Thermal Power Corporation, was disinvested last year. When asked, AITUC leader Gurudas Dasgupta said: ‘‘NTPC may be a Navratna but you cannot compare it to BHEL which is an internationally-acclaimed public sector company.’’‘‘In light of the commitments made in the National Common Minimum Programme, the CPI(M) considers this Cabinet decision to be directly contradictory,’’ the politburo said in a statement. Dasgupta also sent a letter to the PM, saying that the Left was ‘‘strongly opposed to the decision’’.
