Impasse over Indo-US nuclear deal worsens

New Delhi, June 30 (PTI) - The stand off over the Indo-US
nuclear deal worsened Sunday with Communist Party of India
(Marxist) threatening to withdraw support to the United
Progressive Alliance government if it pushed ahead with the
"harmful" agreement.

"In case the government decides to go ahead with such a
harmful agreement, which has no support in Parliament, the
CPI(M) will withdraw support to the UPA government in concert
with other Left parties," a statement of the C.P.I(M)
Politburo said after a meeting here.

However, Congress, which heads the U.P.A. that survives
on the outside support of 59 M.Ps of the Left parties, sought
to downplay the threat saying there was nothing new in the
warning.

Rashtriya Janata Dal, an important constituent of U.P.A.
with 24 MPs, expressed confidence that the government will not
not fall on the deal, which will also go through.

The first public declaration of withdrawal of support by
C.P.I(M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat, came at a press
conference in the midst of a deepening stand off with the
government, which is keen on going ahead with the deal.

While the other Left parties, like the C.P.I, have
already declared their intention to withdraw support if the
government went ahead with the deal, the C.P.I(M) had so far
only given strong indications that it would withdraw its
support.

The government is now said to be involved in efforts to
woo the Samajawadi Party, which has 39 MPs, and some other
smaller groups, to make up for the numbers in Lok Sabha in
case the Left carries out its threat.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is being
watched with keen interest, maintained suspense over his
party's stand saying it would be decided on July 3 when the
United National Progressive Alliance will meet.

However, the arrival of his lieutenant Amar Singh from
the U.S. is expected to set in motion moves for a tie up
between the Congress and the S.P.

R.J.D. chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad ruled out
early elections saying they would be held on schedule. "The
government will not not fall and the nuclear deal will also go
through," he said.

Opposition B.J.P. made light of the C.P.I(M) threat
dubbing the Left parties as "political pranksters", who were
adopting divisive tactics.

The C.P.I(M) Politburo appealed to the partners of the
Congress in the U.P.A. to "ensure that no such steps are taken
which will help the communal forces."

Karat said that "going to the Board of Governors of the
IAEA for approval of the safeguards agreement will be a
flagrant violation of the understanding arrived at the
November 16, 2007 meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the
nuclear deal."

The meeting of the Politburo was held amidst the
deadlock over the nuclear deal "arising out of the Prime
Minister and the Congress leadership's insistence on going
ahead" with it.

The C.P.I(M) attack was severe on Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and the Congress leadership, an apparent
reference to party president Sonia Gandhi, over the deal and
the government's "abject failure" to tackle inflation.

The CPI(M) and the Left parties would unitedly launch an
intensive campaign to expose the government's "surrender" of
national interests on the deal and its "failure" to curb price
rise.

The Politburo regretted that the P.M. and the Congress
were "more concerned" about fulfilling their commitment to
U.S. President George Bush to operationalise the deal than to
gear up the government for comprehensive steps to tackle
inflation.

Expressing grave concern over the galloping inflation
rate which had touched 11.42 percent, Karat said, "the price
rise of essential commodities imposes a crushing burden on the
people. The poor are finding it difficult to survive given the
rising cost of food stuffs."

With the B.J.P. gaining strength in recent months, the
C.P.I(M) reminded the Congress and its allies that the U.P.A.
was formed to keep the communal forces at bay.

"By taking such a step (on the deal) and the political
consequences thereafter, that purpose will be undermined,"
Karat said seeking to put the blame squarely on the doors of
the Congress in the event of saffron surge.

Karat, however, refused to take any questions.

While the dominant Left party has been firmly opposing
the 123 agreement from the beginning, today's was the first
meeting of its top leadership which issued a formal warning in
the backdrop of moves by the government to go ahead with the
deal.

Other Left parties -- C.P.I, R.S.P and Forward Bloc --
are meeting in the next few days, which are expected to
support the C.P.I(M) on the key issue that has brought major
rupture between the Congress-led U.P.A. and its key outside
supporters.

Refusing to buy Government's argument on the deal, the
party insisted that the agreement will "severely undermine"
the country's independent foreign policy and strategic
autonomy by "cementing a strategic alliance" with the U.S.

"The Politburo reiterates its firm opposition to the 123
agreement which does not provide full civilian nuclear
cooperation and does not meet the needs of energy security,"
the statement said.

Karat, in an interview to Kairali TV, said the Prime
Minister's approach towards the deal showed "how deeply they
(Government) are entrenched with US interests".

"For a government that is a coalition minority government
which is dependent on Left parties, the only correct and
honest thing would have been to say that we believe that the
deal is good for the country but since we cannot carry our own
Parliament or the supporters of our coalition government, we
are not going forward," he said.

The Third Front, formally known as U.N.P.A, which
consists of Samajwadi Party, T.D.P, I.N.L.D and some regional
parties, is also meeting on July three to firm up its strategy
on the deal.

The Left parties are trying hard to keep the 39-member
strong Samajwadi Party, which has been warming towards
Congress lately, to their side.

With no immediate signs of the impasse being resolved,
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has already asked senior party
leaders to gear up the organisation for a series of polls,
including the Lok Sabha elections.

The past few days had witnessed a flurry of consultations
in the UPA as well as the Left parties on the deal amidst
signals that the Congress was in no mood to give up going
ahead with the agreement. PTI Team
SRU