Squarely rejecting Left demands for a parliamentary ratification of the 123 agreement, the Manmohan Singh establishment on Monday dug its heels in and refused to blink to the Left threat that the UPA will have to bear heavy political cost of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.
The determined government view was conveyed to CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Congress? key trouble shooter, who was told in plain terms that the Left desire for seeking concurrance of the House was neither based on any constitutional requirement nor precedence.
Seeking the opinion of the House was also not possible, he told Yechury, adding that the only way was through a substantive motion. As far as CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat?s contention that there was no mention of any strategic co-operation with the US in the common minimum programme (CMP) agreed upon with the Left, the external affairs minister said that the document also never contained references to strategic co-operations with Japan, China, Russia and other countries?which were being put in place by the UPA government.
The tough stand clearly reflected a rallying of views within the ruling coalition on the position first articulated by PM Manmohan Singh last week when he put the ball in the Left?s court by saying ?if the Left want to withdraw support, then so be it.?
Although the Left has not shown any signs of backing off yet, indications that the Left brigade was keen to be charged with pulling the rug from under the UPA?s feet was evident when the CPI-M announced that it would be holding a Politburo meeting this weekend to give second thought to the issue. As a consequence of the Left decision to re-discuss the issue on August 17 and 18, UPA managers have now decided to have the discussion in Parliament on the nuclear issue on August 20.
Speaking to newsmen, Mukherjee maintained there was nothing in the Constitution that provided for ratification of international treaties. ?We have no intention of creating a precedent.? Contending that the Left could not use the backdoor, he said that they should first come to power with two-thirds majority if they wanted amendments in the Constitution.
However, he maintained at the same time the government would ?explore all possibilities? to ensure Congress-led coalition ran full-term and expressed confidence that the controversy over the deal would not lead to the collapse of the government. The five-year term of the UPA government ends in May 2009. ?Congress party is interested in running the government for full term. We will explore all possibilities. But it does not mean we will compromise on basic principles,? Mukherjee said. He suggested that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the PM as also the Congress Working Committee (CWC) were there to ensure that the matter was sorted out without compromising the party?s principles.
The statement of Mukherjee is significant as it comes a day before the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting where Gandhi is expected to reveal her mind on the latest row with the Left parties.
