New Delhi: Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie today (Jan 8, 2004) said that early elections would help speed up process of disinvestment.

"If elections are held early it will help the process," Shourie said, adding that the argument that disinvestment would hurt us in elections would not be valid.

Asked if disinvestment of 10 per cent stake each in Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) could be affected by early elections, he replied in negative, adding on the contrary if response was good to these issues then the sceptics would call it a populist measure.