The Left parties have made it clear to the Congress that a minority government that is dependent on others for support, cannot rule without consultations. The Common Minimum Programme that had been formulated was a document that the Left has set great store by, and has repeatedly reminded the government of its existence. This should have convinced the Congress that for its main supporting ally, the CMP was the main document for governance, and could not be set aside by the government without serious consequences. But the warnings were ignored by the Congress. It had the same attitude when confronted with the Left’s opposition to the civilian nuclear energy agreement and the strategic alliance with the United States. The result was that when the Left Front decided, unanimously, to pull out support if the government went ahead with the next step of negotiating a safeguards agreement with the IAEA to operationalise the deal, it came as a major shock to those in power. For they had convinced themselves that the Left parties would not convert the rhetoric into direct action, and the Prime Minister would be able to win over the leadership, if not by threats then by breakfast and dinner meetings. The government is now running from pillar to post trying to resolve the issue, as the UPA allies have made it clear that they are in no mood for an election and would like the Congress to work out a compromise. The Left has again made it clear that there can be no compromise if the government goes ahead with the next step. What the allies are not saying is that the decision by the Left can now trigger off a new realignment of forces at the national level and certainly the DMK and the RJD, facing powerful opponents in Tamil Nadu and Bihar respectively, do not want to be left out of it altogether. It is also becoming increasingly certain that the Left will be at the centre of the emerging realignment of forces, and the regional parties in the UPA cannot go back to their constituencies if snap polls are held, and justify supporting a pro-US deal reached by the Congress government with the Americans. The election campaign, if it comes to that, will focus largely on the US role in the world, with Iraq and Iran finding special mention. It will not be difficult for the Left and the UNPA, and even the NDA, to link the civilian nuclear energy agreement to this larger picture. So the Congress government must now accept the majority view in Parliament as the final word on the nuclear deal and back off from a deal that is not acceptable to the nation.
