Revamp economic ministries: CPI

But CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said his party does not plan to pressure the UPA Government into doing this.

Even so, the editorial has brought into focus the Left’s unhappiness with certain UPA ministers. ‘‘The ministers and ‘babus’ in ministries like finance, commerce and trade, industries and civil aviation go on parroting the mantra of the so-called economic reforms. It seems they have not even bothered to read the National Common Minimum Programme that is supposed to be the agenda for the UPA government for the five-year term,’’ the article says.

‘‘Besides, the experience of the past one year has made the revamp and overhaul of the economic ministries an imperative. There is (a) need to put people in these ministries who have grasped the meaning of the verdict of May 2004, have commitment to the CMP and understand the political compulsions under which the UPA government has to function,’’ the editorial concludes.

Like the CPI, the CPI(M) is also unhappy with the Centre over the same economic issues. But of late the CPI has been more voluble in its criticism of the Manmohan Singh Government; smaller Left parties like the RSP and Forward Bloc have not dared to make such shrill noises. Interestingly, the CPI has been trying to acquire a tougher identity than the CPI(M) under the new dispensation.

However, the New Age editorial reflects the growing frustration of a section of the Left leadership. The article points out: ‘‘… Chidambaram and his most trusted lieutenant Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, has argued that the CMP has talked about allowing the profit-making PSUs to go to the market for additional resources. Yes, that provision is there in the CMP. But it does not mean that the government has the right to sell the shares to finance other projects.’’

The article trains its guns on Chidambaram. ‘‘(The) Union Finance Minister in his zeal to justify this decision (to offload 10 per cent stakes in BHEL) is trying to play with words. He has said that disinvestments do not mean privatisation. What it means he is unable to explain,’’ the editorial says.

The article is bound to sour relations between the UPA and the Left. The Prime Minister’s efforts to brief the Left on every major development and try to assuage their feelings might not fetch results given the CPI’s vitriolic outburst. It is unlikely that the rift will be mended in the near future.