Continuing with its public criticism of the UPA on the nuclear deal, the CPIM on Sunday once again warned the government not to act in haste on operationalising the 123 agreement, contending that it was surviving only because of ?Left?s critical support?.
?The nuclear deal is for 40 years and there should be no haste in signing it.. They (UPA) must remember that Congress has just 145 MPs and the central government is running on the Left?s critical support? CPIM general secretary Prakash Karat said, addressing a convention on Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in Chandigarh.
Karat also accused the UPA of not adhering to the Common Minimum Programme chalked out with the allies and ?adopting a US agenda?.
The CPIM general secretary said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would have to decide whether ?he would like to go with us, his allies and the people of the country, or prefer to toe the US line?.
A debate was already on on whether the government should sign the deal and it would be better to see what the next dispensation in the US felt about it, he said. ?US President George Bush is himself not popular and only 30 per cent of the people support him. So why should we dance to his tunes?? Karat said.
The CPIM leader reiterated his demand for putting the deal on hold for six months, asserting that the Congress leadership was aware of the Left?s opposition to the agreement. ?Wait for six months and have a detailed debate on the issue in Parliament?. ?Can a minority government deal in such a manner… We have no faith in you. The nuclear deal is not in our interest and we will never accept it,? he said.
