08-14-2007, 10:28 PM
Two reports from Pioneer, 14 August 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt on edge as Opp sharpens attack </b>
Nidhi Sharma/Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
Cancel trips, be present in House: PM, Sonia tell Ministers
The politics over opposition to the Indo-US civil nuke deal came in full play in both Houses of Parliament on Monday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made look like a bystander and a sense of unease visible within the Government over the Left's next move.
<b>The Congress</b> has initiated a damage control exercise to pacify the Left, which is enraged by the Prime Minister's challenge to "take it or quit", but <b>for the first time the realisation of a serious crisis seemed to have dawned on the leadership.</b> With both sides not willing to climb down, the Congress leaders are talking of efforts to stabilise the Government and refusing any possibility of having a debate on the 123 agreement under rules entailing voting.
<b>"Congress party is interested in running the Government for full term. We will explore all possibilities," said External Affair Minister Pranab Mukherjee.</b>
At the same time, sounding clear warning to the Left, he said, "It does not mean we will compromise on basic principles," Mukherjee said after a meeting with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
Mukherjee's comments came a day after CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said the onus of running the coalition Government was on the Congress and his reiteration that the UPA regime would have to pay a heavy political price if it went ahead with the deal.
<b>Mukherjee also made it amply clear that there was no question of putting the Indo-US nuclear deal to vote in Parliament.</b>
"Where is the precedent? Why should we create precedent? <b>Never has any international treaty ever been ratified by Parliament. Whenever there has been a treaty or international agreement, the Prime Ministers have only informed the House,"</b> he asserted.
<i>{Yes. But they were governments that had full majority and not a shaky coalition put together after the elections. This is not a normal government. Seems like Pranab Mukherjee has lost his mind.}</i>
Incidentally, last week Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had said the Government was ready to have the discussion on Indo-US nuclear deal in Parliament under rule entailing voting. The change of tacks indicates the growing unease with in the Government about the Left stand.
<b>Taking no chances, the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi have personally told the Congress Ministers to cancel their outstation trips during the current session of Parliament and be present in the House whenever the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is being discussed. All MPs are also being told to be present in the House.</b>
Mukherjee gave the example of treaties with Russia and Bangladesh wherein the then Prime Ministers had informed when the treaty was finalised and later when it was terminated. Referring to the Left's call for gauging the "sense of the House", he said: "there is no such thing as the sense of the House. The rules are clear that voting is done only on a substantive motion. No treaty is ever discussed under substantive motion."
The discussion on nuclear deal is expected on November 20 at the earliest. This would give the Congress adequate time to hold talks with allies and sort out the issues. Indicating this, Dasmunsi said: "The Government's responsibility is to inform Parliament. This has been done by the Prime Minister. Now the prime concern is flood situation in the country. We would discuss it this week."
The Congress may have to worry more than the Left's "barbs". With majority of the UPA allies not too comfortable to be seen supporting an agreement which would go against their regional politics, the Prime Minister had to rely solely on the Congress members to "do" the rescue act when the Opposition raised slogans against him while he defended the deal in the Lok sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Even when the UNPA members trooped into the well of the Lok Sabha and raised slogans that "don't sell the country," and "don't mortgage the nation's nuclear sovereignty", <b>the UPA allies mostly remained silent. The Left leaders sat on their benches as did the BJP members, but at the fag-end of the PM's speech, the Left MPs walked out of the House.</b>
In Rajya Sabha again, the Prime Minister faced the same predicament and read just one paragraph of his speech and then laid it on the table of the House. The Prime Minister must have sensed the mood of the House as even that one brief paragraph was greeted by vociferous protests by the Opposition. As soon as the Prime Minister laid his speech on the table of the House, the Left members staged a walkout.
<b>This will be one of the rarest occasions when the Prime Minister faced such protests while making a statement in Parliament. </b>
Sources said that PM was very unhappy with the way the Opposition, particularly the UNPA and Left members behaved in the House.
<b>"No Prime Minister in parliamentary history was disrupted like this during his speech," a senior advisor to Singh told a group of mediapersons. "What is the need of running Parliament like this, when even the Prime Minister is not allowed to speak," </b>he added.
<b><i>{Must be the goon Sanjay Baru}</i></b>
<b>"We had no inkling of the Left's attitude, they demanded a discussion and the Government was ready for it," he said.</b>
<b><i>{So PMO was sleeping? What was Intel Bureau doing? Should fire the PMO secy and handlers for not getting the sense of the politicians}</i></b>
Sources said seeing the unseemly development of the day, efforts are being made to persuade the Left to take part in the debate, whenever it takes place.
PMO sources were apprehensive that the Left could abstain from the discussion altogether.
<b>The presence of Left during the debate is important for the ruling coalition to bring on tracks the strained relations between the Congress and the Left parties.</b>
Dasmunsi and his deputy Suresh Pachauri talked to Yechury twice to pacify the Left. Mukherjee too met Yechury to persuade the Left parties to take part in the debate.
<b>While the Left leaders have indicated they won't destabilise the Government, the Congress seemed not to be taking any chances. </b>The PMO seems cautious and officials are busy reading the fine prints of the various statements emerging from the Left camp.
Nuclear DEAL
Cong in tight spot
For the first time, realisation of a serious crisis seems to have dawned on Congress leadership
<b>With both sides not willing to climb down, Congress leaders are talking of efforts to stabilise Govt
Govt refusing possibility of debate on 123 under rules entailing voting</b>
Congress initiates damage control exercise to pacify Left
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
and
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>PM meets Karat, CPI(M) says no to deal </b>
PTI | New Delhi
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today had a significant meeting with CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on the Indo-US nuclear deal after which <b>the party came out with a strong statement dismissing Singh's views in Parliament and asked the Government not to operationalise it.</b>
The unscheduled breakfast meeting at the Race Course Road residence of the Prime Minister came in the midst of a war of words between the two sides topped by Singh's challenge to the crucial Left allies to withdraw support to the Government on the deal.
Singh is believed to have told Karat that he has fulfilled the assurances given to Parliament and the Left parties. "What else can I do," he reportedly told the CPI-M leader seeking the Left parties' support on the deal.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also attended the meeting after the PMO came out with a statement that Karat and Prime Minister "reiterated that efforts would be made to sort out the issues."
The PMO statement also informed that Karat told the Prime Minister that he would put the Prime Minister's points to the party's Polit Bureau meeting scheduled on Friday.
Hours later, <b>the CPI(M) Polit Bureau with a point-by-point rebuttal of Singh's statement in Parliament yesterday, saying it did not shed any new light on the Agreement with the US that "calls for a re-assessment on our part."
"He (Singh) has reiterated his position on the Agreement and has not addressed the issues that we have raised," it said.</b>
The stand-off between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left parties today showed no signs of easing despite a breakfast meeting between him and Prakash Karat, leader of CPI(M) which still demanded that the Indo-US nuclear deal should not be operationalised.
The brief PMO statement was an indication that the differences between the two leaders persisted which was confirmed later when the CPM Polit Bureau issued a two-page statement later saying what the Prime Minister had told Parliament did not shed any new light on the deal and address the issues raised by the party.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt on edge as Opp sharpens attack </b>
Nidhi Sharma/Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
Cancel trips, be present in House: PM, Sonia tell Ministers
The politics over opposition to the Indo-US civil nuke deal came in full play in both Houses of Parliament on Monday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made look like a bystander and a sense of unease visible within the Government over the Left's next move.
<b>The Congress</b> has initiated a damage control exercise to pacify the Left, which is enraged by the Prime Minister's challenge to "take it or quit", but <b>for the first time the realisation of a serious crisis seemed to have dawned on the leadership.</b> With both sides not willing to climb down, the Congress leaders are talking of efforts to stabilise the Government and refusing any possibility of having a debate on the 123 agreement under rules entailing voting.
<b>"Congress party is interested in running the Government for full term. We will explore all possibilities," said External Affair Minister Pranab Mukherjee.</b>
At the same time, sounding clear warning to the Left, he said, "It does not mean we will compromise on basic principles," Mukherjee said after a meeting with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
Mukherjee's comments came a day after CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said the onus of running the coalition Government was on the Congress and his reiteration that the UPA regime would have to pay a heavy political price if it went ahead with the deal.
<b>Mukherjee also made it amply clear that there was no question of putting the Indo-US nuclear deal to vote in Parliament.</b>
"Where is the precedent? Why should we create precedent? <b>Never has any international treaty ever been ratified by Parliament. Whenever there has been a treaty or international agreement, the Prime Ministers have only informed the House,"</b> he asserted.
<i>{Yes. But they were governments that had full majority and not a shaky coalition put together after the elections. This is not a normal government. Seems like Pranab Mukherjee has lost his mind.}</i>
Incidentally, last week Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had said the Government was ready to have the discussion on Indo-US nuclear deal in Parliament under rule entailing voting. The change of tacks indicates the growing unease with in the Government about the Left stand.
<b>Taking no chances, the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi have personally told the Congress Ministers to cancel their outstation trips during the current session of Parliament and be present in the House whenever the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is being discussed. All MPs are also being told to be present in the House.</b>
Mukherjee gave the example of treaties with Russia and Bangladesh wherein the then Prime Ministers had informed when the treaty was finalised and later when it was terminated. Referring to the Left's call for gauging the "sense of the House", he said: "there is no such thing as the sense of the House. The rules are clear that voting is done only on a substantive motion. No treaty is ever discussed under substantive motion."
The discussion on nuclear deal is expected on November 20 at the earliest. This would give the Congress adequate time to hold talks with allies and sort out the issues. Indicating this, Dasmunsi said: "The Government's responsibility is to inform Parliament. This has been done by the Prime Minister. Now the prime concern is flood situation in the country. We would discuss it this week."
The Congress may have to worry more than the Left's "barbs". With majority of the UPA allies not too comfortable to be seen supporting an agreement which would go against their regional politics, the Prime Minister had to rely solely on the Congress members to "do" the rescue act when the Opposition raised slogans against him while he defended the deal in the Lok sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Even when the UNPA members trooped into the well of the Lok Sabha and raised slogans that "don't sell the country," and "don't mortgage the nation's nuclear sovereignty", <b>the UPA allies mostly remained silent. The Left leaders sat on their benches as did the BJP members, but at the fag-end of the PM's speech, the Left MPs walked out of the House.</b>
In Rajya Sabha again, the Prime Minister faced the same predicament and read just one paragraph of his speech and then laid it on the table of the House. The Prime Minister must have sensed the mood of the House as even that one brief paragraph was greeted by vociferous protests by the Opposition. As soon as the Prime Minister laid his speech on the table of the House, the Left members staged a walkout.
<b>This will be one of the rarest occasions when the Prime Minister faced such protests while making a statement in Parliament. </b>
Sources said that PM was very unhappy with the way the Opposition, particularly the UNPA and Left members behaved in the House.
<b>"No Prime Minister in parliamentary history was disrupted like this during his speech," a senior advisor to Singh told a group of mediapersons. "What is the need of running Parliament like this, when even the Prime Minister is not allowed to speak," </b>he added.
<b><i>{Must be the goon Sanjay Baru}</i></b>
<b>"We had no inkling of the Left's attitude, they demanded a discussion and the Government was ready for it," he said.</b>
<b><i>{So PMO was sleeping? What was Intel Bureau doing? Should fire the PMO secy and handlers for not getting the sense of the politicians}</i></b>
Sources said seeing the unseemly development of the day, efforts are being made to persuade the Left to take part in the debate, whenever it takes place.
PMO sources were apprehensive that the Left could abstain from the discussion altogether.
<b>The presence of Left during the debate is important for the ruling coalition to bring on tracks the strained relations between the Congress and the Left parties.</b>
Dasmunsi and his deputy Suresh Pachauri talked to Yechury twice to pacify the Left. Mukherjee too met Yechury to persuade the Left parties to take part in the debate.
<b>While the Left leaders have indicated they won't destabilise the Government, the Congress seemed not to be taking any chances. </b>The PMO seems cautious and officials are busy reading the fine prints of the various statements emerging from the Left camp.
Nuclear DEAL
Cong in tight spot
For the first time, realisation of a serious crisis seems to have dawned on Congress leadership
<b>With both sides not willing to climb down, Congress leaders are talking of efforts to stabilise Govt
Govt refusing possibility of debate on 123 under rules entailing voting</b>
Congress initiates damage control exercise to pacify Left
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
and
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>PM meets Karat, CPI(M) says no to deal </b>
PTI | New Delhi
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today had a significant meeting with CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on the Indo-US nuclear deal after which <b>the party came out with a strong statement dismissing Singh's views in Parliament and asked the Government not to operationalise it.</b>
The unscheduled breakfast meeting at the Race Course Road residence of the Prime Minister came in the midst of a war of words between the two sides topped by Singh's challenge to the crucial Left allies to withdraw support to the Government on the deal.
Singh is believed to have told Karat that he has fulfilled the assurances given to Parliament and the Left parties. "What else can I do," he reportedly told the CPI-M leader seeking the Left parties' support on the deal.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also attended the meeting after the PMO came out with a statement that Karat and Prime Minister "reiterated that efforts would be made to sort out the issues."
The PMO statement also informed that Karat told the Prime Minister that he would put the Prime Minister's points to the party's Polit Bureau meeting scheduled on Friday.
Hours later, <b>the CPI(M) Polit Bureau with a point-by-point rebuttal of Singh's statement in Parliament yesterday, saying it did not shed any new light on the Agreement with the US that "calls for a re-assessment on our part."
"He (Singh) has reiterated his position on the Agreement and has not addressed the issues that we have raised," it said.</b>
The stand-off between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left parties today showed no signs of easing despite a breakfast meeting between him and Prakash Karat, leader of CPI(M) which still demanded that the Indo-US nuclear deal should not be operationalised.
The brief PMO statement was an indication that the differences between the two leaders persisted which was confirmed later when the CPM Polit Bureau issued a two-page statement later saying what the Prime Minister had told Parliament did not shed any new light on the deal and address the issues raised by the party.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->