Disinvestment: Govt to talk to partners

The process of disinvestment of public sectors undertakings (PSUs) including NALCO and Neyveli Lignite Corporation is not off yet and the UPA regime is bracing up to resume a dialogue with alliance partners in this regard.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that he had to put on hold the process of disinvestment due to differences over it within the UPA and with allies. "But we will talk to our colleagues before we move in that direction (for disinvestment)," he said.

Addressing a joint press conference with Congress President Sonia Gandhi at the end of the two-day conclave of Congress chief ministers here, the PM said that there are some vacancies of governors and they will be filled up "shortly". He did not set any timeframe for the appointment of a new external affairs minister, saying "You will get to know in due course of time".

Home Minister Shivraj Patil whose performance has come under scrutiny following the bomb blasts in Mumbai and Malegaon could heave a sigh of relief.

Asked if there was a possibility of any change in the Home portfolio, the PM said, "I am fully satisfied with the performance of the home ministry." The PM also asserted that the government was not considering bringing back POTA.

Replying to a question, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi ruled out the possibility of appointment of a Deputy PM: "There is absolutely not going to be a deputy PM. I am saying so categorically."

She said that she had not yet decided whether to go back to National Advisory Council (NAC) as its chairperson, the post she had resigned in the wake of office-of-profit controversy. Asked about a reshuffle in the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the Congress president said that she would do it "as soon as possible".

The UPA chairperson rejected the Nationalist Congress Party's demand for inclusion of UPA constituents in the UPA-Left coordination committee. "Since the Left parties are not part of the government, they themselves had asked for a separate meeting with the Left only. It is working very well."

A day after the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) withdrew from the UPA, Gandhi said that the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) had stated that a consensus has to be arrived at on this issue.

The PM and the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, have been meeting coalition colleagues but there is no consensus yet. "We will still continue to work towards reaching a consensus on Telangana," she said.