NEW DELHI, 2 July 2005 — United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi yesterday met leaders of the left parties in a bid to resolve differences over the disinvestment issue.
The meeting, attended by CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and CPI National Secretary D. Raja, comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top Congress leaders, including Sonia and union ministers P. Chidambaram, Arjun Singh, Shivraj Patil and Ghulam Nabi Azad, discussed the issue.
The left leaders are unhappy over the manner in which the UPA government is going ahead with disinvestment of profit-making public sector companies or inviting foreign direct investment. Left had decided to suspend its participation in the UPA coordination committee meetings.
They are protesting the 10 percent disinvestment in BHEL saying it was against the Common Minimum Program guidelines.
Sonia, who had been on a sojourn to Shimla, had earlier told Karat that she would meet the left leaders on her return to Delhi. Later, Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president said the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and they went off well and a solution would be found soon. He, however did not respond when asked when the second round of talks with left leaders was scheduled.
