IndiaPost.com - LEFT PUSHES INDIA GOVT TO BRINK

Rigid opposition to Nuclear deal with

US NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh insisted there was no going back on the civilian nuclear deal with USA, the Left parties warned the government not to proceed with further discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency. There were threats even of forcing a snap poll if this was not heeded. Indeed, political pandits feel India could be heading for elections in 2008, a year ahead of schedule.

The Left has virtually threatened to withdraw support to the ruling coalition over the deal with Washington. They say the two sides might live through the current crisis, since neither side wants an election this year, but relations have deteriorated so much that and early eventual separation now seems likely. In Mumbai, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar even hinted at polls within the next three-four months and asked party workers to prepare for it.

Relations between Congress and the Left were never good at the best of times, and their alliance was little more than a marriage of convenience to keep the BJP out of power. In West Bengal and Kerala, Congress is a bitter opponent of the Left. "The Congress never had any faith in them and the Left never had any faith in the Congress," Shekhar Gupta wrote in the The Indian Express.

"Whatever happens, the die for an early election is cast and it is for the Congress to decide the timing." The Left parties, who have 60 MPs in Parliament, say the nuclear deal hurts India's sovereignty and could make its foreign policy beholden to the United States.

In an apparent message to parties opposed to the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation, the Prime Minister said no government can shirk the responsibility of pursuing a "sound" energy security strategy in which nuclear fuel plays an important role. Speaking at a public function, he said nuclear energy will play an important role in addressing India's energy security needs.

He urged "all political parties" to appreciate the vital national interest of pursuing such a strategy. "India is on the move and we must be able to address its growing energy demand," Dr Manmohan Singh said. He, however, did not make any direct reference to the deal.

The four Left parties emphasized after a meeting that the government "should not proceed with the agreement" in view of the "overwhelming opposition" to the deal. "This would require not taking the next step of negotiations for the safeguards agreement with the IAEA," a statement said. But the government is not ready to put its negotiations with IAEA or the Nuclear Suppliers Group on hold.

The Left also urged non-Congress members of the UPA ~ who said they would go by whatever Dr Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi decide ~ to see the merits of the Left criticism of the nuclear pact.

Left parties clarified that the proposal to set up a committee to look into the objections regarding the 123 nuclear agreement and to evaluate implications of the Hyde Act on the deal would only be acceptable if the government freezes its next step of holding negotiations with the USA.

The government, however, is pressing for the above mechanism to go hand-in-hand with its international nuclear talks. Politically, a section of the Congress leadership has doubts on whether the Left could actually afford to topple the government by joining hands with the BJP.

It feels, or at least hopes, that the Left might not resort to pulling the rug from under the UPA at this stage. It expects a scenario whereby the government, despite being reduced to a minority on paper, could actually drag on until at least the Budget session of Parliament early next year.

"This session is coming to an end, you need a vote of no-confidence to ensure the fall of a government. Will the Left play ball with the BJP?" a Congress Union minister asked. "So there might not be any voting out the government until the Budget session which requires a vote on financial matters."

And, even if the Left chooses to strike at the Congress-led UPA regime during the Budget session, it could get another few months as a caretaker government. The UPA also fielded Kapil Sibal to make a pitch for having a full-fledged debate in Parliament to dispel any "misgivings" about the nuclear deal.

"The deal will come into operation only in December next year following the NSG meet in May," Sibal said, terming the pact as "the best deal" in the country's interests on all parameters. He said the India-US 123 pact would not be subjected to the Hyde Act and is better than the similar US-China accord. Incidentally, the nuclear deal debate slated for 23-24 September has now been further deferred.