West Bengal Chief Minister and CPI-(M) Politburo member Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said on Tuesday that his party had not taken any decision on the abolition of the divestment ministry, but added that it would oppose divestment of the core sector.
"No official decision on demanding the abolition of the divestment ministry has been taken by our party as yet," Bhattacharjee told reporters in Kolkata after returning from Delhi.
Asked if his party would press for the introduction of divestment at the Centre on the line being followed in West Bengal, the chief minister said, "Ours is a different story. Of the 56 manufacturing units (state PSUs), none were set up by our government, but were later acquired by it from private parties after they turned sick."
"Sometimes we feel that we have committed mistakes. Now we are restructuring wherever it is possible through joint ventures and will dispose of the units, which cannot be revived," he said.
"Their (Centre's) story is altogether different as all undertakings were set up with government funds and so we will oppose divestment of the core sector," the chief minister said.
Bhattacharjee returned on Monday night from Delhi after attending the crucial CPI(M) politburo and central committee meetings.
He told reporters in Kolkata that he was confident that the United Progressive Alliance would complete its full term.
"The verdict of the people was to remove the BJP-led NDA and now the Congress has a majority and, in addition, the left parties are with them. Have confidence on the Left and see whether this government completes its term or not," he said.
To a question, the chief minister said that the Left parties would send a draft of demands to be included in the Common Minimum Programme either by Tuesday or by Wednesday even as it refused to reveal its expectations from the UPA government.
"Let the government be formed and ministries allocated, then we will discuss our expectations," Bhattacharjee said.
Asked why the Left decided against joining the UPA government, the chief minister said, "We cannot betray our people who voted for us. They did not vote for us to join the Congress-led government."
Coming back to CMP, Bhattacharjee said, Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee were working on it and would call a meeting of partners. "Even if CMP is agreed upon, we will not join the government."
He indicated that the Left's draft on CMP would focus on the rural sector and agriculture and to consolidate the state's agriculture success by moving from it to agri-business. In the industrial sector the Front's priorities would be new areas like steel, IT, biotechnology and traditional industries.
