UPA firm, saffron staining its red, CPM looks for an honourable exit

Basu’s remarks come at a time when the CPI is moving away from the CPM’s openly defiant line. CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta said that his party never backed the idea of a resolution but wanted a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that would convey the “sense of the House”.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi made it clear that the government wouldn’t buckle under the CPM’s sustained assault on this. “Why should a government commit or bind itself when it is not required?”

Dasmunshi, who has been present at meetings between the Left and the UPA, along with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee. “In diplomacy, you need flexibility to manoeuvre to keep the interests of the country,” he said.

The CPM’s strategy to press for a resolution has also been affected by the Prime Minister’s reply in the Rajya Sabha today where he said that members should wait for the US legislative process to get over and then check if the “end product” went beyond the July 18 agreement.

While Dasmunshi said that the PM would make a statement on the issue next week, CPM leaders are now looking at “other options” for an expression of the “sense of the House” given that the government has said a no to a resolution.

If this happens through the Prime Minister’s statement, “our concerns on the nuclear deal will have to be articulated,” said a Left leader. The details are likely to be finalised over the weekend. Even the direct intervention of the Prime Minister by talking to CPM general secretary Prakash Karat isn’t being ruled out.

Incidentally, the BJP is watching the fun after having had the Left seen as being on its side. Said Vijay Kumar Malhotra: “The Government is talking to the CPM. If the CPM backs out, then nothing will happen. We won’t move the resolution because in that case it will be defeated.”

As for the CPM, its leaders are squirming when asked about their being seen in sync with the BJP while questioning the Prime Minister’s motives. Consider these:

• “The BJP is fishing in troubled waters,” said Ganashakti, the party’s journal. “That’s why they are opposing the deal.”

• Sitaram Yechury: “The BJP’s objection to the nuclear deal is based on their understanding that it is against India’s weaponisation programme. Our objections are in the foreign policy context. That’s the key difference.”

• That nuance isn’t so clear to others. As a senior Left MP said, “I saw Sushma Swaraj say on television that the Left was with the BJP on the nuclear issue. It was not something I wanted to hear.”

• Some like CPM’s Leader in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharia are exasperated. “It is our proposal to have a resolution. If the BJP supports us, what can we do?”

• Brinda Karat, CPM politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP: “It doesn’t matter who gets onto the bandwagon. This involves all parties.”

• Gurudas Dasgupta, who leads the CPI’s parliamentary group, said his party was not in favour of joining the BJP in adopting the resolution on the nuclear deal. “If people think we are saying the same thing as the BJP, they should ask themselves why we are not supporting the BJP instead of the UPA?”

• CPI national secretary D. Raja: “We are telling the government that they should accommodate the concerns of the Left and other parties, including the BJP. Otherwise, we have nothing to do with the BJP.”