No change in Bhel divestment stand: Karat

House to debate Prime Minister's statement on Indo-US nuclear agreement; Left, BJP demand defence minister's statement too.

The CPI(M) today reiterated its opposition to disinvestment in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) after rumours that the party had softened its stand on the issue.

After a meeting of the CPI(M) politburo, General Secretary Prakash Karat said, "Our opposition to Bhel disinvestment remains, so does our opposition to disinvestment in other profit-making public sector units. That is why we are not in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) co-ordination committee."

When questioned about reports that CPI(M) MPs had tried to block a special mention on the Bhel issue by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Karat said, "Our party felt that LK Advani's chargesheet should be given primacy. Sometimes, it is important to seize the moment."

CPI(M) sources said after Finance Minister P Chidambaram's statement in the House on Friday that "no further decision has been taken in the (Bhel) matter", the party was not very keen on discussing the issue inside or outside the House.

"We are going by Chidam-baram's statement in Parliament that the government is not proceeding in the Bhel case. Now it is up to the government to approach us so that we can react," said a Politburo member.

But the issue will be raised in Parliament this week along with the controversial Indo-US joint statement, signed by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush in Washington recently.

A CPI(M) statement made it clear that the Indo-US civilian nuclear energy pact was not the most sensitive thing in the joint statement as far as the party was concerned.

Karat said the media had only played by the nuclear agreement, whereas for the Left parties, the framework agreement on Indo-US defence ties and participating in a multinational army headed by the US (as in Iraq currently) was unacceptable.

"The department of atomic energy should not be weakened while implementing the nuclear cooperation agreement on the basis of structured reciprocity," he asserted.

"The joint statement shows the continuation of the trend of India being accommodated as an ally of the US with decisions such as the joint democracy initiative and accepting the US leadership in the fight against terrorism," the CPI(M) statement said.

Tomorrow, Parliament is set to discuss the Prime Minister's statement, tabled on Friday, on his US trip. But the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have both asked for Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to also make a statement regarding the framework agreement signed in Washington last month.

Left parties are likely to give vent to its annoyance with the UPA government when Mukherjee makes his statement in the House.

The Prime Minister, after having assured the nation in his statement that India will be open to safeguards only if and when the US keeps its side of the bargain, has bought the Left's silence on the subject.