‘House debate before n-deal can proceed’

At the end of the three-day Politburo and Central Committee meet of the CPI(M) on Monday, leaders widened the range of their dissent against the UPA...

At the end of the three-day Politburo and Central Committee meet of the CPI(M) on Monday, leaders widened the range of their dissent against the UPA, including in its criticism the overall performance of the UPA Government, apart from its already well-known opposition to the nuclear deal.

Party insiders said grounds for opposition to the Congress-led UPA Government was made more broad-based instead of keeping it down to the nuclear deal that had “limited popular appeal”.

Speaking to the media, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said the Left-UPA joint mechanism had been trying to reduce tension between the two sides. “The Centre is trying to come up with an answer following the objections we raised over the nuclear deal. We have written to them, they have replied to us. We have written back to them,” Karat said.

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“In fact, both sides are trying to find ways to resolve issues. There will be more meetings. It will be unfair to say the Left-UPA mechanism has failed to achieve anything,” Karat said when asked about the resolutions the forum had taken in the last three days.

Karat also said the Central Committee unanimously decided to stand behind its August 22-23 pronouncement when the Left had asked the Government “not to negotiate further the text of the agreement with the IAEA”. He said the nuclear deal will be discussed threadbare in the winter session of Parliament before it can proceed.

“The CC is unanimous the UPA should not proceed with the deal. I don’t know what will happen,” Karat said, giving out the message that the party’s highest policy-making body is still tentative about its next step on the N-deal.

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