Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Divestment on hold

The Centre's decision to back down after the DMK threatened to withdraw its Ministers from the Union Cabinet if it did not give up its proposal to divest 10 per cent shares in the Neyveli Lignite Corporation has proved M. Karunanidhi's clout in the United Progressive Alliance.

Clearly, the Congress has played safe. And by taking the decision at the right time, the DMK has silenced the opposition in Tamil Nadu.

Amrutha Rajendran,
Chennai

* * *

As the editorial "The fruits of unilateralism" (July 8) points out, it is strange that the DMK and the PMK did not oppose the disinvestment decision at the Cabinet meeting. One can only pity Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

A Government giving in to political pressure and trade unions at the cost of economic progress is unfortunate.

Retna M. Thillainathan,
Chennai

* * *

By backtracking on its decision to disinvest in the NLC, the Government has shown itself in a poor light. Instead of consulting its coalition partners and then agreeing to disagree on issues, it resorted to unilateral action resulting in confrontation among the UPA allies.

If the Government cannot convince its own allies on any issue, how can it carry the country forward? It is time the Congress learnt a thing or two about running a coalition.

D. Balakrishnan,
Coimbatore

* * *

If the decision to disinvest was taken without due deliberations, the Prime Minister was wrong in not following the necessary procedure. But if the decision was duly approved by the Cabinet, the DMK should not have opposed the disinvestment proposal publicly. Either way, the UPA is to blame.

D. Srinivasa Rao,
Vijayawada, A.P.

* * *

When the Left parties demanded a rollback in the hike of fuel prices, which affected crores of poor and middle class people, the Government categorically said `no.' But it had no hesitation in giving in to the DMK. Is it because the DMK is part of the Government and the Left parties are not? At least now the Left should realise that it lost an opportunity by not becoming part of the Government.

Harish Betha,
Mangalore

* * *

It is the survival instinct that is foremost in everyone's minds. When employees are driven to strike work because the Government does not heed their genuine demands, politicians refuse to see reason. But when their continuation in power is threatened, they are ready for a climbdown within hours.

P. Andrew Valsan,
Nagercoil, T.N.

* * *

This has reference to the cartoonscape (July 8). Is it not a clear offside goal? The UPA and the Left should learn the art of agreeing to disagree.

R. Raja Singarayar,
Sivagangai, T.N.

* * *

The article "Decision-making in the age of coalitions" (July 8) has trashed the so-called coalition dharma as practised by the UPA Government. The suggestion that a Group of Ministers be constituted to consult allies before taking a policy decision is not feasible. What can be done when allies whose members are in the Cabinet suddenly take a u-turn on a Cabinet decision? It would instead be better to avoid taking any decision at all. Why waste time consulting coalition partners within the Government and outside, the Opposition parties in Parliament, trade unions and corporate bodies, when one is not sure that the goalpost will not be shifted at the eleventh hour?

Colonel Deepak Das (retd.),
Jaipur

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