How Left opposes but doesn’t dispose

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel left his office quietly this afternoon, minutes before the Airports Authority of India Employees’ ...

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel left his office quietly this afternoon, minutes before the Airports Authority of India Employees’ Union, their supporters and special guest Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) were to air their opposition to the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

But Yechury, when he arrived, apologised for a sore throat and said he would be unable to speak for long: ‘‘But I have come to assure you that the CPI(M) is with you in your struggle.’’

Making no specific mention of Patel’s announcements on Wednesday for restructuring Delhi and Mumbai airports, Yechury only reiterated that he and his party would stick to their stand that profit-making PSUs would not be privatised.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘The people are the owners of a PSU. The government is only the manager and a manager has no right to sell it. We even made this an issue in the elections and the NDA government paid for it.’’

Yechury raised three objections. First, on the ownership. ‘‘We are against ownership being passed on to private hands. This is public property and no government can take such a major decision.’’

His second concern had to do with security: ‘‘Airports are sensitive installations. We cannot compromise on their security. This along with ATC controls cannot be placed under a company.’’

And to wrap up, he said there were fears that if public assets like the Delhi and Mumbai airports passed into the hands of a foreign investor, someone else could call the shots.

Story continues below this ad

Indeed, Patel had addressed these concerns: 49% cap means that control will remain in Indian hands, ATC and security will remain with the government and the process has been named ‘‘restructuring and modernisation,’’ rather than the P-word, so anathema to the Left.

Sharing the dais with Yechury, CITU president and CPI(M) Politburo member M K Pandhe, MP Dipankar Mukherjee spoke on the same lines. Pandhe told the union to organise a rally in the first week of July. ‘‘We will ensure your voice is also carried to Parliament,’’ he told the lunch-hour gathering.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet has written to Patel, asking him to ‘‘shelve any plans to privatise airports in our country’’.