Amidst clear indications that both the UPA and the Left wanted to avoid a confrontation over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, efforts to try and end the logjam over the issue picked up pace on Wednesday with government firefighters stepping up moves to engage Left leaders and sort out the crisis.
That neither side wanted to aggravate the situation further was evident when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh steered clear of any references to the nuclear deal in his Independence Day address on Wednesday, while Left leaders too exercised restraint. In fact there was prompt appreciation of Prime Minister?s tact to skip any remarks on the controversial deal from the Left. ?He has upheld the dignity of Parliament by doing so,? CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said.
The restraint from Left leaders was visible with the leaders contending that there was no move from their side to withdraw support to the government, while squarely rejecting the BJP?s invitation to join them in Parliament to discuss the Indo-US nuclear deal under Rule 184. However, the bottomline of the Left is that while they do not want to bring any harm to the government, their opposition to the deal cannot be compromised.
?Our position on the deal is a principled one. The opposition with the government is also policy-based. We have not discussed withdrawing support. All along we were talking about redefining the ties with the UPA,? CPI general secretary AB Bardhan told FE. ?They are demanding re-negotiation of the deal. But our demand is not to operationalise it,? another senior leader of the party said when asked about the BJP?s request. One way out, they contended that the government should not take up the exercise of negotiations with the NSG and the IAEA as part of the 123 agreement till matters are sorted out.
The government has stepped up the pace in engaging Left leadership. Over the last two days, Congress leaders have briefed CPI?s central secretariat members Gurudas Dasgupta, CK Chandrappan and D Raja on the deal. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has been tasked to try and convince the Left, has already held discussions with CPI(M) politburo members including Jyoti Basu, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and state Left Front convener Biman Basu. The Prime Minister had set the ball rolling on Tuesday with a breakfast meeting with CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and a telephone conversation later with the Buddhadeb. He is expected to have a separate meeting with Buddhadeb this weekend. Some Left leaders were also in touch with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a bid to ensure that the matter is not precipitated.
All eyes, however, will be on the outcome of the CPI(M) politburo meet on August 17 and 18. The CPI too is synchronising its steps by holding a meeting of its central secretariat on these days. ?We will discuss the whole policy of the UPA government. The Indo-US nuclear deal is just a culmination of the country?s economic and foreign policies continuing for the last three-four years. The deal cannot be seen in isolation,? Bardhan said. A joint meeting of the Left parties is then expected after these two meetings.