Bhubaneswar, April 15: The new-found bonhomie between the BJD and the BJP-led NDA will be tested by the Centre's decision to disinvest 12.15 per cent of its stakes in the public sector National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), a Navratna enterprise.
Though the regional party's immediate reaction was to oppose the decision, it has refrained from announcing any plan to hit the streets as it had done in 2012 when a similar move was made by the then UPA government to offload its shares in the Nalco.
"Nalco is a profit-making public-sector undertaking. I think disinvestment should not take place there," said chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik soon after returning here today at the end of his eight-day official trip to Delhi.
BJD spokesperson Amar Prasad Satpathy said the party was opposed to any divestment in Nalco and would continue to do so.
"We are yet to find out the motive behind the Centre's move as it is a profit-making company," he said.
The Centre holds 80.93 per cent equity of Nalco, which is a group 'A' PSU, which registered a sales turnover of Rs 7,024 crore in 2013-14. The company has diversified operations in the field of mining, metal and power.
Opposition parties described the BJD's response to the development as "mild" and demanded a tougher stand from the ruling party on the issue.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said: "The chief minister's reaction is too mild. He should have asked his party to hit the streets on the issue. His political compulsions appear to be holding him back."
Mishra, who also slammed the BJP saying the true colours of the party have become clear following the decision, recalled how Congress had met AICC president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh forcing a rollback of the then UPA government's move to disinvest shares in Nalco. "While the BJP's double standard is obvious now, even the BJD dopes not appear to be doing its bit on the issue," said the leader.
Sources said the BJD's political compulsions had become obvious in the wake of its support to the controversial MMDR (Amendment) Bill of the Modi government in the Rajya Sabha. It was the backing of parties such as the BJD that the bill passed the Upper House test and has now become an act.
Given this backdrop, the chances of party organising the kind of protest demonstrations over the Nalco disinvestment issue as it had done in 2012 are being ruled out. Sources said that if at all there were protests, they would lack the aggression of the past because the chief minister seemed not to antagonise Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is even a distinct possibility of the BJD supporting the controversial land acquisition ordinance when it is brought into Parliament once again in the form of a bill in its next session.
The issue has also proved embarrassing for the state unit of the BJP, which, like the BJD, had organised demonstrations in 2012 when the UPA had sought to disinvest its shares in Nalco. State party president K.V. Singh Deo said: "Let the Union cabinet take a call on this, then we will announce our stand."
