Karat spells it out: Will pull out if Govt goes to Vienna

And BJP leader L K Advani, addressing a rally in Rourkela, said: “We will ask the Government to face a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha on the nuclear issue… we cannot sacrifice our atomic energy and future tests in Pokharan by signing the agreement with the US.” The UPA, he said, was wasting time in fighting the Left over the nuclear deal instead of concentrating on development and other burning problems.

The CPM politburo, which met in New Delhi today, backed Karat fully by stating that the current impasse was the result of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leadership’s “insistence” on going ahead with the deal.

“It is unfortunate that at a time when the Government should be gearing to take comprehensive steps to tackle inflation and price rise, the Prime Minister and the Congress leadership are more concerned about fulfilling their commitment made to President Bush to operationalise the nuclear deal,” the politburo said in a statement.

“In case the Government decides to go ahead with such a harmful agreement, which has no majority support in Parliament, the CPM will withdraw support to the UPA government in concert with the Left parties,” said Karat, reading out the blunt politburo warning.

With the CPM deciding to part ways in case the Government approaches the IAEA for sealing the India-specific safeguards agreement, pressure mounted on the Congress to take a political call on the fate of the deal.

Though the Samajwadi Party’s stance is still not clear — chief Mulayam asked partymen in Lucknow today to “be prepared for Lok Sabha polls which can be announced anytime” — the CPM decided not to budge and the 15-member politburo reiterated that going to the IAEA Board of Directors for approval of the safeguards agreement would be a “flagrant violation” of the November 16, 2007 understanding.

“The UPA had pledged (at the November 16 meeting) not to proceed till the (UPA-Left) committee arrives at its findings, which includes the conclusions to be arrived at on the text of the safeguards agreement,” Karat said.

The question now is whether the Left parties will vote against the ruling coalition with the BJP, which it always describes as “communal”, after withdrawal of support in the event of the Government going to the IAEA Board.

Karat said the UPA was formed to keep the “communal forces at bay” and going to the IAEA Board and the “political consequences thereafter” will undermine that purpose.

He did not take any questions but his message was clear that the Left should not be held responsible if the BJP gains after the break-up of the UPA-Left.

“We appeal to the partners of the Congress in the UPA to ensure that no such steps are taken which will help the communal forces,” the statement said.

On expected lines, the politburo reiterated its firm opposition to the 123 agreement saying it “does not provide for full civilian nuclear cooperation, does not meet the needs of energy security and will severely undermine India’s independent foreign policy and strategic autonomy by cementing a strategic alliance with the US”.

The party is also planning to make public the notes exchanged between the Government and the Left on the nuclear deal issue to show they have not get satisfactory replies to many of the queries raised by them.

Keen to put across his message to the Congress, Karat gave an interview to the CPM-backed Malayalam TV channel Kairali in which said that the Congress leadership should realise that the era of single party Governments was long gone.

“For a government that is a coalition minority government which is dependent on Left parties, the only correct and honest thing would have been to say that we believe that the deal is good for the country but since we cannot carry our own Parliament or the supporters of our coalition government, we are not going forward,” he said.

Karat kept up the attack on the Prime Minister, saying “his stubborn attitude” that he should fulfill the commitment made to US President George W Bush was responsible for the crisis. The Prime Minister’s approach, he said, shows “how deeply they are entrenched with US interests.”

The politburo statement was equally harsh on the Government on galloping inflation and the “abject failure” to tackle it. The politburo decided to launch a campaign with other Left parties to “expose” the government’s “surrender” of national interests on the deal and its “failure” to curb price rise.