N-fission splits Left Front allies

The CPM,which was instrumental in withdrawing the support,says in its manifesto that it favours “reviewing and reworking of the 123 agreement with the US for civil nuclear cooperation to remove the harmful clauses”. But the RSP and Bloc, considered as the most vocal critique of the CPM among Left partners,have categorically stated that the deal cannot be reviewed.

“It should be scrapped,” said Kshiti Goswami,RSP leader and Public Works Department Minister in Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government.

Goswami,who recently vetoed the Left Front manifesto (known as joint appeal) drafted by the CPM and forced the party to revise it,admitted that it has differences with the big brother over the issue.

A few days ago,Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas had also said the deal was proof of US hegemony and as a Left party they should send the deal into a cold storage. “If we allow review of the deal,why did we withdraw support from the UPA government?” asked a leader of the Bloc.

Though CPI leaders in Kolkata declined to discuss the issue,its official manifesto has made strong comment on the Indo-US deal. “The nuclear deal not only entails heavy financial loss,but is against national interest,” reads the manifesto. “A Left party cannot demand the review of a deal that is against the national interest,” said a CPI leader.

Besides the nuclear deal,the Left parties have differences related to issues like special economic zones and creation of smaller states.

As the CPM is campaigning for the proposed chemical hub at Nayachar,which is awaiting the status of SEZ,the party has called for an amendment in the SEZ Act to do away myriad tax concessions and regulate land use. But the RSP and Bloc have said that such laws should be reviewed totally.