06-19-2008, 07:57 AM
<b>PM may defy Left, go to IAEA </b>
Bengaluru, June 18: The nuclear deal between the US and India has looked ever more uncertain in the past year. But the fate of the UPA government after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh abruptly called off talks with his governmentâs powerful Left allies on Wednesday is looking equally fraught. <b>Sources have indicated that this was no âpostponementâ but a cancellation, as the first step towards the Congress going ahead with the next steps on closing the nuclear deal.</b>
The government has publicly said that the arrival of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and high-level talks with the visiting Syrian delegation required the services of external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has remained the chief interlocutor these many months with Mr Prakash Karat of the CPI(M). <b>But there are persistent reports from within the Congress that indicate Dr Singh has finally lost his patience with Mr Karatâs intransigence and instructed Mr Mukherjee to call off his talks with the Left leaders.</b>
Sources said he had Congress president Sonia Gandhiâs complete backing and that she had set the stage for the move by making her first unambiguous statement supporting the deal in Guwahati five days ago after months of silence. After Wednesdayâs talks were called off, the CPI(M)âs Nilotpal Basu reiterated the Leftâs stance that it does not want India to take the next step and negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Unlike before, he stopped short of saying they would pull out of the government if the Congress went ahead.
Dr Singh made no public comment as he did in August 2007 when he said in an interview to Kolkataâs Telegraph â âI told them to do whatever they want to do, if they want to withdraw support, so be itâ â after Mr Karatâs statement that laid out the reasons his party objects to the deal. Sources in New Delhi said Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi had realised that the marriage of convenience between the Congress and the Left had lost its utility and there was little point in prolonging the alliance after it became obvious that the Left was weakening in its bastion, West Bengal, where it had been badly mauled in the panchayat elections. The Leftâs constant criticism on the NREGA, price rise and the fuel price hike have only soured relations.
Bengaluru, June 18: The nuclear deal between the US and India has looked ever more uncertain in the past year. But the fate of the UPA government after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh abruptly called off talks with his governmentâs powerful Left allies on Wednesday is looking equally fraught. <b>Sources have indicated that this was no âpostponementâ but a cancellation, as the first step towards the Congress going ahead with the next steps on closing the nuclear deal.</b>
The government has publicly said that the arrival of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and high-level talks with the visiting Syrian delegation required the services of external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has remained the chief interlocutor these many months with Mr Prakash Karat of the CPI(M). <b>But there are persistent reports from within the Congress that indicate Dr Singh has finally lost his patience with Mr Karatâs intransigence and instructed Mr Mukherjee to call off his talks with the Left leaders.</b>
Sources said he had Congress president Sonia Gandhiâs complete backing and that she had set the stage for the move by making her first unambiguous statement supporting the deal in Guwahati five days ago after months of silence. After Wednesdayâs talks were called off, the CPI(M)âs Nilotpal Basu reiterated the Leftâs stance that it does not want India to take the next step and negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Unlike before, he stopped short of saying they would pull out of the government if the Congress went ahead.
Dr Singh made no public comment as he did in August 2007 when he said in an interview to Kolkataâs Telegraph â âI told them to do whatever they want to do, if they want to withdraw support, so be itâ â after Mr Karatâs statement that laid out the reasons his party objects to the deal. Sources in New Delhi said Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi had realised that the marriage of convenience between the Congress and the Left had lost its utility and there was little point in prolonging the alliance after it became obvious that the Left was weakening in its bastion, West Bengal, where it had been badly mauled in the panchayat elections. The Leftâs constant criticism on the NREGA, price rise and the fuel price hike have only soured relations.