UPA’s allies Trinamool Congress and DMK put their opposition to disinvestment on record while speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in which the government talked of developing a “roadmap for listing and people-ownership of public sector undertakings while ensuring that government equity does not fall below 51%.”

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Trinamool MP Sudeep Bandopadhyay said his party was not in favour of disinvestment in profit-making PSUs in the banking and insurance sectors. He also opposed the Land Acquisition Act and asked the government to table a fresh Bill to “protect the land of farmers from being acquired for industry.”

When contacted later, the Trinamool leader said his party’s opposition wasn’t limited to PSUs in West Bengal. “We are against disinvestment of any profit-making PSU but we are firm that no such step should be undertaken in the banking and insurance sectors and it applies to any PSU across the country”, he said.

Voicing the DMK’s opposition, MP Kanimozhi said in the Rajya Sabha: “We have to keep away from the temptation of generating revenue by disinvesting PSUs...In a country where the socialist model is very important, things like disinvestment should not be even thought of.”

In fact, not only on disinvestment, on FDI in retail, pension and banking reforms, the Trinamool’s views mirror those of the Left. Mamata Banerjee has, in fact, gone on record to say that the “Left ideology is good but it’s the CPM which is bad.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, two senior MPs of her party, Saugata Roy and Sisir Adhikari, echoed this. “Comrades are championing the cause of the rich. It’s the Trinamool which is the real pro-people party,” Adhikari said.

... contd.