06-20-2008, 02:53 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Allies for signing N-deal but want to take Left along </b>
pioneer.com
Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
In the war of nerves between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left parties on Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the UPA allies have positioned themselves in favour of the Government, but have raised apprehensions about the political repercussions of going ahead by ditching the Left parties.
<b>No ally wants to face the election at the moment when the anti-incumbency is at its peak and the popularity of the UPA Government is at an all time low due to the spiralling rise in prices. They also fear that even after the elections, the support of Left parties would be crucial to form any Government of the present configuration</b>.
After deferring the UPA-Left meeting on the agreement on Wednesday, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav called all the Ministers of his party in the Union Cabinet in the night and reviewed the emerging political situation. Before that he had called on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to caution him from taking the extreme stand till the next meeting of the UPA and Left.
On Thursday, following CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury's meeting with the Railway Minister in the afternoon, Lalu came in support of the agreement openly but remarked that<b> "both the deal and Left parties are important" for him</b>. Lalu was actually trying to keep the PM in confidence and at the same time was underlining the importance of the Left parties.
That was why on the one hand he supported the deal in black and white and went to meet Mukherjee along with Yechury in the evening to break the impasse. The RJD chief said that the deal was necessary for the country's development and it would be unfortunate if it fell through.
<b>But Lalu was cautious enough not to tell that the Government should go ahead with the IAEA negotiations </b>
.....
In the evening NCP president and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and later told the media that no one had conveyed him that the Government was going ahead with the deal.
<b>"I am part of the Government. I have not heard anything like that (signing the deal with the IAEA),"</b> he said and refuted reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked him to speak to Left parties to convince them.
However,<b> he cautioned the Government on going alone with the agreement. "It is our duty to take our friends and whosoever has supported us for four-and-a-half years into consideration before taking a final view (on the nuclear deal)," </b>Pawar said outside the South Block office of the External Affairs Minister.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Somehow UPA is thinking they can back in power. Why and how?
pioneer.com
Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
In the war of nerves between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left parties on Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the UPA allies have positioned themselves in favour of the Government, but have raised apprehensions about the political repercussions of going ahead by ditching the Left parties.
<b>No ally wants to face the election at the moment when the anti-incumbency is at its peak and the popularity of the UPA Government is at an all time low due to the spiralling rise in prices. They also fear that even after the elections, the support of Left parties would be crucial to form any Government of the present configuration</b>.
After deferring the UPA-Left meeting on the agreement on Wednesday, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav called all the Ministers of his party in the Union Cabinet in the night and reviewed the emerging political situation. Before that he had called on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to caution him from taking the extreme stand till the next meeting of the UPA and Left.
On Thursday, following CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury's meeting with the Railway Minister in the afternoon, Lalu came in support of the agreement openly but remarked that<b> "both the deal and Left parties are important" for him</b>. Lalu was actually trying to keep the PM in confidence and at the same time was underlining the importance of the Left parties.
That was why on the one hand he supported the deal in black and white and went to meet Mukherjee along with Yechury in the evening to break the impasse. The RJD chief said that the deal was necessary for the country's development and it would be unfortunate if it fell through.
<b>But Lalu was cautious enough not to tell that the Government should go ahead with the IAEA negotiations </b>
.....
In the evening NCP president and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and later told the media that no one had conveyed him that the Government was going ahead with the deal.
<b>"I am part of the Government. I have not heard anything like that (signing the deal with the IAEA),"</b> he said and refuted reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked him to speak to Left parties to convince them.
However,<b> he cautioned the Government on going alone with the agreement. "It is our duty to take our friends and whosoever has supported us for four-and-a-half years into consideration before taking a final view (on the nuclear deal)," </b>Pawar said outside the South Block office of the External Affairs Minister.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Somehow UPA is thinking they can back in power. Why and how?