A rapprochement of sorts

We recently wrote about how the Congress hasn’t achieved much in terms of maintaining top-level contacts with the BJP. Soon after the UPA decided to send National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Department of Atomic Energy chief Anil Kakodkar to meet the top saffron leaders on the nuclear deal with the US. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP president Rajnath Singh had earlier touched upon the issue. It is learnt that when Rajnath went to call on the PM after his recent prostate surgery, the latter had broached the subject and the BJP president promised to look into the matter. Having been in the Rajya Sabha together, the two do share a rapport but have exhibited it only twice in their present capacities—it proved helpful when Mamata Banerjee went on an indefinite hunger strike over Nandigram. However, the pair couldn’t make any significant headway on the nuclear deal. There is some gain though—the main Opposition party will leave no stone unturned to distance itself from the Left in the coming Parliament debate on the 123 agreement.