N-deal: Left alone, to decide on Friday

The Left maintained that the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan next week is an indication of the Government’s plans to go ahead with the deal and New Delhi would approach the IAEA Board of Governors between July 9 and 15 following Manmohan Singh’s return from the G-8 summit.

CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said the future strategy of the Left parties on the nuclear deal would be decided at the July 4 meeting. The four Left parties will meet to discuss the timing of withdrawing their support.

Sources in the CPI(M) said they do not expect the Government to announce its decision to go to the IAEA before the Prime Minister’s visit because the day that happens the Left parties would withdraw their support. This would reduce the UPA as the head of a minority Government.

“Our opposition is on movement on the nuclear deal. Whenever they decide to go to the IAEA, we will withdraw,” a senior leader said.

For the Left the only consolation at this point in time seems to be the support of Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP on the nuclear deal.

The other casualty in the nuclear “war” could well be the formation of the Third Front. “The day Samajwadi Party joins hands with the Congress it would not be considered as a part of the proposed Third Front. The SP would be on the opposite of the divide, at least on this issue,” a CPI(M) leader said.

However, there were others who were ready to give some time to the Samajwadi Party. “We will have to keep track of the developments and consider the move at a later stage. Nothing will move immediately,” a senior Left leader said.

Karat also met TDP’s Yerran Naidu, who is understood to have told him that they are opposed to the deal. But a collective decision of the UNPA would be made at its July 3 meeting here. The CPI(M)’s top leadership discussed the issue with Chandrababu Naidu over the phone.

Sources said a third possibility could be on the cards with the SP continuing its opposition to the nuclear deal only to bail out the Government in the event of a confidence vote in Parliament.

“The SP’s political calculation could be that an alliance with the Congress and Ajit Singh’s RLD would ensure a victory over BSP and BJP in Uttar Pradesh. This political compulsion could be driving them (SP) to the Congress camp,” a senior leader said.

Maintaining its strident posture, the CPI(M) also outrightly rejected the Prime Minister’s assurance that the Government will seek the sense of Parliament after confirming the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA Board and getting a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.