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| Left withdraws support; PM says won’t affect govt stability | | | New Delhi | July 8
The Left parties on Tuesday announced that they are withdrawing support to the UPA government on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal. Briefing the press in New Delhi after a meeting of Left parties, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that they will meet President Pratibha Patil tomorrow to formally hand over the letter of withdrawal of support. Left leaders have been given an appointment for 12:00 noon by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The four Left parties – CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP, which have a total of 59 MPs – have sent a letter to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, informing him of their decision, Karat said.
Reacting to the Left parties’ decision, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the move will not affect the stability of the UPA government. He added that his government will go to the IAEA as soon as possible to finalise the safeguards agreement.
The Left decision came a day after Dr Singh made a statement in Japan, saying his government will go to the IAEA soon to finalise the safeguards agreement required for the nuclear deal. Dr Singh is in Japan to attend the G8 meeting, and according to Pranab Mukherjee, the PM will go ahead with his visit as scheduled. He is slated to return on Thursday.
The Prime Minister meanwhile received support on the nuke deal from unlikely quarters. Foreign Secretary said China has expressed its willingness to support the nuclear deal. The development came after Dr Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Japan this morning.
‘Seek trust vote’
The Left has asked the PM to immediately convene a Parliament session and seek confidence vote. CPI leader D Raja said the Left would vote against the government in the trust vote.
BJP president Rajnath Singh has also asked the PM to seek trust vote in the Parliament, in view of the Left’s pullout. Rajnath also attacked the Left parties, saying if they knew all along that the deal was not in national interest, why did they wait till today to withdraw support.
BJP leaders will meet later in the evening to review the fast-changing situation, while a meeting of all NDA allies has been called tomorrow.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh meanwhile said his party would support the UPA government in confidence vote. Mulayam denied reports there was a split in the SP on the nuke deal issue. However, reports suggested Samajwadi Party MP Jai Prakash has decided to quit the party and join Mayawati’s BSP. Samajwadi Party presently has 39 members in the Lok Sabha.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which recently quit the Congress-led Jammu and Kashmir bringing about its fall over the Amarnath land transfer issue, has decided to back the UPA in trust vote in Parliament. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the deal was not anti-Muslim, as claimed by many, adding her party would support it in the nation’s interest.
Another J&K party, National Conference’s Omar Abdullah declined to rule out support to the nuke deal, saying if they are convinced it was in the nation’s interest, they would back it.
Govt stable: Cong
In view of the Left withdrawing support, Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a high-level meeting of party leaders at her house. Also, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs is slated to meet in the evening, where a decision on when to convene a special session of the Parliament could be taken. It is likely that the Parliament session would be convened after the PM returns from Japan.
Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said if the Samajwadi Party supports the UPA in Parliament, the government will win the trust vote.
Railway Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav also said the UPA has the numbers as well as the majority.
"The Left has its own ideological compulsion and that is why they have decided to withdraw support. But it will not affect the government as we have numbers to prove majority," Lalu Yadav told reporters.
About the fate of the nuclear deal, he said, "N-deal is very much on. The deal is essential for the government as we need energy."
The Congress also attacked the Communists for the timing of their decision.
"When the entire nation is mourning those killed in the Kabul (Indian Embassy) blast, the Left has chosen to make the announcement. It is most unfortunate. They think their prestige is more important than the nation's prestige," AICC media department chairman Veerappa Moily said.
Time had come: Left
Karat, while revealing the text of the letter sent to Mukherjee, said: “The government had told us on November 16, 2007 at the UPA-Left co-ordination committee meeting that the government would provide the Left with the text of the draft IAEA safeguards agreement before finalizing it. However, the text has not been provided so far.”
“Pranab Mukherjee’s proposal on July 7 to call a meeting of the UPA-Left co-ordination committee on July 10 has been rendered meaningless after Prime Minister’s statement in Japan that his government will go to the IAEA soon,” the letter goes on, adding “the Left had told the government that if the PM goes to the IAEA Board of Governors, we will withdraw support.”
“The PM has said he is going to IAEA, so the time has come for the Left to withdraw support,” the letter concludes, according to Karat.
Earlier this morning, Karat said that the PM’s statement in Japan was humiliating for the Left. He caustically remarked that the Prime Minister could have communicated his decision to go ahead with the deal to the Left parties rather than announce it outside the country.
Dr Singh said yesterday that India will "very soon" approach the IAEA for a safeguards agreement for the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal where the "process will move very fast".
On Singh's statement that he was ready to face Parliament for a trial of strength, CPI national secretary D Raja had said yesterday, "If PM thinks he can manipulate the numbers, let him prove it on the floor of the House. What sort of ethics is he trying to project?"
Support from ‘others’
Meanwhile, Deve Gowda-led JD(S) and Ajit Singh’s RLD have hinted that they would support the government if things come down to a trust vote. TRS, which recently parted ways with the UPA, said it would support the nuclear deal if their demand for a separate Telangana state is met.
Even BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal, which has eight MPs, has said it will consider supporting the nuke deal, when it meets on July 14. SAD leader Prakash Singh Badal however made it clear that his party would continue to be a part of the NDA.
However, another BJP ally Shiv Sena, which recently backed the N-deal in principle, has made it clear it wouldn’t support the UPA in case of a trust vote. |
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