‘No one barked’ (November 14) makes a very good observation. The Left which fancies itself as the sole custodian of political rectitude and ideological vigour is licking the wounds inflicted by recent election results. The trends in elections clearly show that their time is up and that issues like disinvestment were used by the Left when it was politically expedient. Now it has got busy with its survival.
The BJP is sharply divided on many issues and it does not want say anything on the issue and exacerbate its problems — in any case, the NDA was a votary of privatisation and so cannot really argue against it now. The opposition within the UPA on disinvestment is selective. The DMK has opposed disinvestment in Neyveli Lignite, the Trinamool Congress has some reservations on disinvestment but this was muted as the party did not want to be seen on the same side as the Left parties.
The question before the UPA government is whether P Chidambaram would have exploited the opportunity better than the current finance minister who is not as pro-markets and in favour of privatisation as Chidambaram was.
MM Gurbaxani, Bangalore
