06-21-2008, 06:14 AM
<b>Congress, Left may delay n-split </b>
New Delhi, June 20: The ground-level situation is compelling the UPA and the Left to delay parting ways on the Indo-US nuclear deal. This is clear after the series of meetings they held on Friday despite reiterating their stated positions on this issue. A senior UPA leader said a UPA-Left meeting, expected on June 25, may be deferred because they have yet to arrive at a decision.
âWe can delay going to the IAEA board of governors for India-specific safeguards by a few months. But neither the government nor the Left is in a position to dilute its stand on it,â he said. Ruling party sources said the situation could hardly get any worse for the Congress. While inflation, which has crossed 11 per cent, and the anti-incumbency factor are going against the government, advancing the Lok Sabha elections could go against the Leftâs stand on containing the BJP.
<b>âWhat do we tell people in the elections? Should we criticise the Left and strengthen the BJP,â asked a minister</b>. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo--> The UPA allies know they cannot play a role beyond a point on this. The government and the Left cannot dilute their positions.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is going to Japan for the G-8 summit, where the nuclear deal is sure to figure, particularly at his meeting with US President George W. Bush.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat met external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Friday. The CPIâs D. Raja also met Mr Mukherjee in the presence of defence minister A.K. Antony. Before that, Mr Pawar met Mr Mukherjee.
Though UPA and Left leaders are tightlipped on the proposals they are discussing, the <b>thinking is that there should not be any bitterness before parting ways. </b>
<b>Immediately after the meetings, Mr Mukherjee drove to Congress president Sonia Gandhiâs residence and briefed her on the situation. </b> <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Though there was no official word from the government, the Left feels the government is still reviewing the situation and weighing options: whether to go ahead with the deal and its implications, including the possibility of early polls. At the AICC briefing, spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the Congress wanted to take the Left along on the nuclear deal and there would be âno loss of faceâ if the agreement failed.
New Delhi, June 20: The ground-level situation is compelling the UPA and the Left to delay parting ways on the Indo-US nuclear deal. This is clear after the series of meetings they held on Friday despite reiterating their stated positions on this issue. A senior UPA leader said a UPA-Left meeting, expected on June 25, may be deferred because they have yet to arrive at a decision.
âWe can delay going to the IAEA board of governors for India-specific safeguards by a few months. But neither the government nor the Left is in a position to dilute its stand on it,â he said. Ruling party sources said the situation could hardly get any worse for the Congress. While inflation, which has crossed 11 per cent, and the anti-incumbency factor are going against the government, advancing the Lok Sabha elections could go against the Leftâs stand on containing the BJP.
<b>âWhat do we tell people in the elections? Should we criticise the Left and strengthen the BJP,â asked a minister</b>. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo--> The UPA allies know they cannot play a role beyond a point on this. The government and the Left cannot dilute their positions. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is going to Japan for the G-8 summit, where the nuclear deal is sure to figure, particularly at his meeting with US President George W. Bush.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat met external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Friday. The CPIâs D. Raja also met Mr Mukherjee in the presence of defence minister A.K. Antony. Before that, Mr Pawar met Mr Mukherjee.
Though UPA and Left leaders are tightlipped on the proposals they are discussing, the <b>thinking is that there should not be any bitterness before parting ways. </b>
<b>Immediately after the meetings, Mr Mukherjee drove to Congress president Sonia Gandhiâs residence and briefed her on the situation. </b> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' /><!--endemo--> Though there was no official word from the government, the Left feels the government is still reviewing the situation and weighing options: whether to go ahead with the deal and its implications, including the possibility of early polls. At the AICC briefing, spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the Congress wanted to take the Left along on the nuclear deal and there would be âno loss of faceâ if the agreement failed.