CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat’s comments at the party’s Delhi unit meeting, indicating an early election, have created confusion within CPI(M) — especially West Bengal —- as well as among the Left allies. Sources said frantic calls were put through to Karat to ascertain what he actually meant in his speech at the meeting. Top Left sources say that while the central leadership of the party and Karat maintain that the comments were “blown out of proportions”, the Bengal unit is not expecting mid-term elections in summer. The CPI (M) sources say that in West Bengal, they need time to put things in order. Karat, who is under scanner from many quarters for softening of the stand on the nuclear deal and letting the Government go to IAEA —- could have well been playing to the gallery as he was addressing the Delhi unit of the party. He has stuck to his hardline on the deal, realising that the safeguard agreements will come through and if political equations change, the deal could well be on an auto-pilot system. In Vienna, the talks entered their second day, with sources indicating that they were scheduled to go on till Wednesday, with Thursday kept as reserve. In this context, US Ambassador to India David Mulford met Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon to get an update on the ongoing conversation with the IAEA. The CPI( M) sources already indicated that the party would like to have a meeting of the UPA-Left committee after the talks with the IAEA are finalised. Karat’s comments, however, also didn’t go down well with the allies. Karat, insisting for a December deadline to end the IAEA talks, goes against what the Left parties said at the last UPA-Left meeting. The Left allies didn’t set a deadline for the Government to get back to them after the IAEA talks. Rather, Karat himself was of the opinion that the Government could take as much time as it wants.
