Basu criticises Ahluwalia

The controversy over the inclusion of experts from the World Bank and other multilateral agencies on the consultative groups of the Planning Commission refuses to die down with veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu making fresh allegations today that the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was a " World Bank" man.

"He (Montek) is all wrong. He belongs to the World Bank. He is a World Bank man," Basu said before a weekly meeting of the CPI(M) state secretariat today.

Reiterating his opposition to the inclusion of the experts from the multilateral agencies, Basu said: "We do not want them in the Planning Commission. We have enough economists in the country."

Basu, however, said there was nothing wrong in seeking advice or funds from the World Bank or any other global body.

In response to whether the Left would be demanding Ahluwalia's resignation Basu was categorical saying the Left had no such demands. "Why should he resign? He should change his mind. He should discuss with us, " Basu said.

The former chief minister Basu, who had a luncheon meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi last Saturday, however, made it clear that the Left parties would not accept the foreign experts in the Planning Commission and that the matter would be taken up at the Left Front-UPA co-ordination committee meeting immediately after the return of the Prime Minister from New York.

He said a Left-UPA co-ordination panel would be convened soon in which these matters would be discussed as there was confusion following reports about the resignations of foreign as well as Indian experts from the Planning Commission.

"Their (the World Bank, Mckinsey) people have resigned. Our people (Left economists) have also resigned. I do not know what is going on," the former chief minister said.

The Left parties led by the CPI(M)are providing support to the UPA government, had resented the inclusion of experts from multilateral agencies like the World Bank and Mckinsey in the consultative groups of the Planning Commission.

Basu said the issue of airport privatisation would also be taken up with the Centre. "We are in two minds. Let the Prime Minister return from abroad, we will discuss it," Basu said when asked what the Left parties would do to oppose the proposed privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports. The matter, he said, would be discussed at an UPA-Left co-ordination committee meeting.

Although today's meeting was a weekly state secretariat meeting but it assumed significance in view of this controversy as well as other issues like hike in foreign direct investment and the provident fund interest rates on which the CPI(M) has differences with the Singh government.

Apart from Basu, three other CPI(M) politburo members -Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Anil Biswas - and Citu general secretary Chittabrata Majumder attended the meeting.