And they decide: debate Iran, n-deal, no need for no-trust

The Government today conceded to the Left demand for a debate in Parliament on the Iran issue, FDI in retail and the Indo-US nuclear deal after Left parties put the UPA on the defensive at their coordination meeting, saying their suggestions on key issues had been ignored.

The Government was told that the Left would not back any no-trust move but would make common cause with other parties and raise issues inside and outside Parliament. No mention was made of a Third Front but the Government believes that there will be informal floor coordination on matters raised by the Left. “Since the time the Left-UPA coordination meetings started, we gave 19 written notes on a range of issues and the overall assessment is that the exercise has not been productive,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said.