Ahead of the much awaited UPA-Left meet likely on Thursday, Left parties have once again queered the pitch saying that the announcement of the political mechanism should be accompanied by an assertion that government will not operationalise the 123 agreement.
The move could pour cold water over the efforts to end the deadlock, considering that the government is unlikely to make any such assertion. However, till late evening efforts to meet the Left demand halfway were being attempted by government managers. Party circles indicated that external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the key firefighter, was working on a draft statement which was shown to Left leaders for their approval.
Sources in the Left maintained that they were not looking for an overt assurance but indications to the effect that operationalisation would not proceed ahead for the time being. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi also held internal meetings with Mukherjee and defence minister AK Antony to resolve the issue.
Over the last two days, the Congress and the Left had been able to reach some common ground by agreeing to set up a committee that would look into concerns raised by the Left, especially relating to implications of the Hyde Act on the 123 agreement. The 8-member committee, likely to be headed by Mukherjee, is expected to have three members each from the Congress and Left and the remaining two from alliance partners.
??The government’s decision may be formally told to us at the meeting which is likely on Thursday??, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters here on Wednesday, even as he maintained that the government should not proceed with operationalising the agreement ??till this mechanism or a committee comes out with its findings.?? At the same time, the Left parties, accounting for 59 members in Lok Sabha, have held that it is not interested in unseating the government or giving an impression that it was siding with the BJP on the issue.
Asked whether there should be a time-frame for this mechanism to submit its findings, Yechury said ??yes, there has to be a time-frame??. The CPI(M), CPI and Forward Bloc have already affirmed that they would be willing to join such a mechanism if the need arose, but RSP has informed the government that it would take a decision after internal discussions.
To a question whether the BJP should also be part of the proposed committee, Yechury said ??let them talk to the government. There have been rulings from the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman that a discussion in Parliament cannot be held under rules which entail voting, which was being demanded by the BJP??.