Left on offensive over airports too

Fresh from impressive wins in West Bengal and Kerala elections, the CPI(M) today ruled out compromise on the issue of modernisation of airports. The stand that could have a significant bearing on the modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports.

"Modernisation of rest of the airports has to be done only by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and not privatisation," CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said today.

The stance comes a day ahead of the Politburo meeting in which the central leadership is likely to discuss policies and programmes that the Left governments in Kerala and West Bengal have to follow.

Yechury said his party would also try to take up the issue of FDI in retail in the current session of Parliament.

Coming as it does without any immediate provocation from the UPA regime, this could be a veiled message to the next chief ministers of the two Left-ruled states, especially the West Bengal chief minister, who has been wooing foreign direct investment.

Yechury said the party would also raise the issue of displacement of tribals when mines in Orissa and Jharkhand were privatised. Privatisation of a large number of these mines is unconstitutional, he added.