Nay sayers

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pranab Mukherjee proved to be the proverbial hard nut during his discussions with Left leaders on the nuclear deal. When CPIM General Secretary Prakash Karat met him in the morning to prepare the ground for the crucial Left-UPA meeting in the evening, Mukherjee started the conversation with a disarming remark. He referred to the Left leaders8217; meetings with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK chief M Karunanidhi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and asked Karat if he had been able to find some new formula to resolve the issue. To this, Karat had only a no for an answer. Thereafter, Karat suggested a public statement from either the Prime Minister or Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying the Government would not proceed with the 123 agreement after finalising the agreement with IAEA. It was Mukherjee8217;s turn now to say no. Karat next asked for a similar statement from some senior Congress functionary. Mukherjee shot down this idea too. Then Karat demanded that Left leaders be shown the draft of the proposed agreement with IAEA. For the third time, the External Affairs Minister said the Government could not accede to the request.