PM meeting may be a face saver for Left

Their public pronouncements apart, the Left parties are reconciled to the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his part, provided them a face-saver today by agreing to talk to the agitating employees of the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Leaders of the Left parties, who met the PM today, requested him to consider the alternative proposal given by the AAI employees, according to which the AAI should be entrusted with the modernisation work.

Faced with some plainspeak from the PM, who told them that the Cabinet had already cleared the proposal, the Left parties requested the government to at least explain to the employees why their alternative proposal was rejected.

They also sought an assurance from the government about the "job security" of the employees.

The Left parties did not demand a reversal of the Cabinet decision.

All they wanted from the government was to convince the agitating employees that no repressive measures would be taken against them.

The PM, who met the leaders in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, allayed their apprehension saying that as of today, not a single employee had been arrested.

RSP leader Ambani Roy wanted to know why the AAI had not been allowed as a bidder and questioned the fairness of the process adopted in awarding the contract. He, however, got no encouragement from his Left colleagues on this issue.

Left leaders, including CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan, argued for an amicable solution to the current imbroglio through negotiations with the employees.

Having taken a tough stance against privatisation of the airports in the past, the Left parties were faced with a dilemma given West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's reservation about the agitation. On Thursday he apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passengers.

Besides, there was also a growing realisation among the Left parties of the validity of the government's arguments about the urgency to start the modernisation work.

"You cannot expect the government to reverse the Cabinet decision now. We just want to ensure that there no employee is retrenched. As for the bidding process, some people have already gone to the court," a senior Left leader told the Business Standard, explaining the shift in Left stance on the issue.