Left to Manmohan Singh: Stop N-deal with US or fall

By Seema Mustafa

New Delhi: August 18: The countdown has begun for the Manmohan Singh government, which was put very effectively on notice by the CPI(M) after a two-day politburo meeting. “Don’t take the next step,” warned CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, “or face serious consequences.” This, sources said, was a clear indication that the “government will go” if the 123 agreement was operationalised.

Plunged into a crisis over the civilian nuclear energy deal, the core group of the government went into a huddle to consider the next steps after Mr Karat and Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inform him of the politburo’s decision. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee were also present at the meeting where they were told that the CPI(M) would be left with no option but to withdraw support if the government went ahead to negotiate a safeguards agreement with the IAEA that would be binding on the country.

The government was warned not to operationalise the 123 agreement, and to “pause” and discuss the implications of the Hyde Act and consider all the objections raised by the majority in Parliament. “We will wait for their decision,” Mr Karat said in what was a clear decision by the politburo to throw the ball decisively into the UPA court on Saturday. The resolution stated, “It is for the Congress leadership to decide on the matter which will have serious consequences for the government and the country.”

The CPI(M) politburo decided not to go in for any interim measures expressing disapproval of the deal, but to make it apparent to the government that its survival would be in jeopardy if it decided to operationalise the 123 agreement. This involves the negotiations of a safeguards agreement with the IAEA that the government had planned to conclude in September. It also includes clearances from the Nuclear Suppliers Group according to a time table for which the dates were to have been set by Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar during a visit to Geneva in September. US undersecretary Nicholas Burns had suggested a November deadline for the completion of these steps to enable the US Congress to clear the 123 agreement in January. Sources said a delay of just three months can kill the deal.

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The CPI(M) politburo took a very clear-cut stand: One, the
123 agreement cannot be separated from the Hyde Act, and has to be seen in the context of the wider implications of the strategic alliance between India and the US. Two, that going ahead with the agreement will not serve India’s interests. Three, the government must not proceed with the agreement given the widespread opposition and the fact that the majority in Parliament does not support the nuclear cooperation deal. Four, the government must not take the next step of negotiating a safeguards agreement with the IAEA till all the objections are considered and the implications of the Hyde Act evaluated. And five, it is for the Congress leadership to take a decision.
The Congress will have to consult the UPA allies before taking a final decision. There have already been murmurings from the allies that they are not being kept informed by the government on the nuclear deal. Any decision that could result in the fall of the government, the sources said, will have to be “ratified” by the allies, in particular the Rashtriya Janata Dal, DMK, Nationalist Congress Party and the People’s Democratic Party. The RJD and the DMK are reportedly not keen to be put into a “pro US” slot and will make their reservations known as and when the Congress party consults its allies.
Prime Minister Singh had tried to win over the Left parties over a breakfast meeting with Mr Prakash Karat, a dinner meet with West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and telephone calls to CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and others during the past few days. He had, however, maintained throughout that he could not go back on the 123 agreement, that it had been passed by the Union Cabinet, and at one stage had told the leaders that he would have to resign if the agreement did not go through. There is widespread speculation about this possibility with TV channels spearheading this with the question: Will the Prime Minister resign?
– Deccan Chronicle (August 19)
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Neeraj Nanda

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