End nuclear talks in Dec or govt falls: CPM

The deadline comes two days after Cong chief Sonia Gandhi deplored “the manner in which CPI-M cadres” acted in Nandigram, reports S Iyer.

The Left has, for the first time, set a deadline for the government against proceeding further on the India-US civil nuclear deal.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has asked the government to end negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by this month or be prepared for mid-term polls.

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“When they (officials) come back from talks with IAEA, we will tell them (government) there is no need to go ahead (with the deal). The issue must be resolved by end of December. If they still go ahead, we will have to be prepared for Lok Sabha mid-term polls,” he said at the Delhi state CPI(M) meet late on Saturday.

Karat’s statement made it to TV channels on Sunday as a team of Indian officials left for Vienna to resume their second round of talks with the UN atomic watchdog for India-specific safeguards from Monday.

It was not clear what provoked the CPI(M) to set the deadline but it came two days after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi deplored “the manner in which armed party cadres” acted in Nandigram.

On November 16, the Left parties had allowed the government to carry on negotiations with IAEA on the condition that no agreement would be signed without being examined by the UPA-Left committee.

The Congress downplayed Karat’s deadline. “Whatever is being negotiated is as per the understanding reached in the coordination committee meetings of the Left and the UPA and after full engagement with the Left,” party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told PTI.

In his fresh statement, Karat told party leaders: “If the government speaks with the IAEA, we will stall talks with the UPA.” He said the Left had given more time to the government to ensure that the UPA government continued till the Gujarat polls as it didn’t want the BJP to succeed in that state.

“We didn’t want the government to fall, especially before the Gujarat elections. I had even told them (government) that the Gujarat elections are coming up and if they aren’t worried about the elections, we are. We don’t want the BJP to succeed in garnering votes in Gujarat.”

Last week, Parliament saw an intense debate on the nuclear deal with the Left parties warning the government against it. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed hopes that the opponents of deal could be persuaded to accept it.

As the CPI(M) set the deadline, CPI national secretary D Raja said the findings of the UPA-Left committee on the matter would prevail. “The formal understanding is that they (government) will get back to the UPA-Left committee. The findings of the committee will prevail,” Raja said when asked about Karat’s statement.

The BJP did not think the Left would carry out its threat. Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The fear of BJP looms larger than the perceived sellout to the US for them. I, therefore, dare Karat to withdraw support (to the government) on this issue.”