PM calls Left's bluff on N-deal

NEW DELHI: The Left on Saturday ducked the “like it or lump it” challenge flung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the “comrades” were welcome to withdraw support to his government if they could not stomach the Indo-US nuclear deal.

While the PM’s “if they want to withdraw support... so be it” declaration marked a reversal of roles and a barely disguised attempt to call Left’s bluff, the latter refused to bite.

For a change, there was no barking either. Even as the PM stood by what he called his “conditional” remarks, Left leaders were at pains to claim that they did not see the issue in light of any move to withdraw support to the government.

Though CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, in a statement released here, sought to counter the PM’s onslaught by arguing that he did not agree that India could become a superpower with US help, he limited himself to stating that the government should keep in mind the deal does not enjoy majority support in Parliament.

A clearer indication of what his party could do came from his party colleague, Sitaram Yechury. Talking to reporters in Hyderabad, Yechury said they were not seeking removal of the government, but a renegotiation of the deal. “The deal stays even if the government goes,” he elaborated.

After his return to the Capital, Yechury sounded even more benign, as he cautioned journalists against linking every issue to the survival of the government. Responding to the PM’s attack, he said: “He has given his counsel. But we will go by our own counsel whatever our relationship with the government.”

Yechury, when pressed for a response as to what Marxists would do if the government does not address their concerns about the deal, did remark, “Keep some news for later.” But the fact that it was no call to arms was evident from the Left’s decision not to ask for a vote on the deal in Parliament.

CPI’s D Raja also did not sound particularly bellicose as he asserted his party’s right to express its views and political disagreement with the government.