CPM softens its stand on deal

NEW DELHI: With differences within the Left coming to the fore and the government rejecting the CPM’s proposal for parliamentary scrutinty of the Indo-US nuclear deal, the party has diluted its stand from a “sense of the House” demand to a statement “acceptable to all sides”.

A day after the government did some tough talking to dissuade the CPM from going ahead with a parliamentary resolution on the nuclear deal, the Marxists toned down their proposal, but stuck to the stand that a suo motu statement by the Prime Minister will not do. “We are not going to be satisfied with just a suo motu statement. There has to be a statement or draft which is subscribed to by all sides,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat reiterated on Thursday.

His remarks come even as parliamentary affairs minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi ruled out the possibility of a resolution and said the Prime Minister will make a suo motu statement while the CPI made it clear that it would not sing to the CPM’s tune on a resolution with the BJP’s support.

CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta termed as ‘politically wrong’ a collaboration with the BJP and said the Prime Minister should make a statement in the House. The CPI’s stand and the nod to the amendment to the Atomic Energy Act in the US House of Representatives to make way for the deal sans the contentious amendments has made government’s task easier.

However, CPM leaders in Rajya Sabha persisted with their demand that Parliament should send a strong message that India cannot be pushed around.

Politburo member Brinda Karat said this must be conveyed to the rest of the world. “The government can choose its language. But the sentiment of the country should be reflected in the House. A statement must be issued on the behalf of the government, which will be a unanimous statement by all parties.”

At a meeting with Left leaders yesterday, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee had hinted at calling off relations with the Left if the CPM went ahead with a resolution.

The CPM was trying to mobilise support from political parties to “bind” the UPA government through a “sense of the House” against going ahead with what it said was a clear departure from the Manmohan Singh-George Bush agreement of July last year and the Separation Plan tabled in Parliament.

Though Mr Karat did not describe it as a resolution, he said the proposal was on the lines of Parliament resolutions on Iraq and the CTBT. The CPM wanted Parliament to set the parameters for the government’s approach towards the deal.