The campaign will also focus on countering Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s repeated statement that “the Indo-US nuclear deal will strengthen India’s energy security” and highlight the point as to “how a man (US President George Bush) who is not friendly to his own people has suddenly become India’s best friend” as stated by the Prime Minister.

Top Left leadership, including CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and his CPI counterpart A B Bardhan, will be spanning out from Kolkata to Chennai on Tuesday to meet in Visakhapatanam on September 8. A separate mass campaign by the CPI(M) will follow this.

The parties, which are also testing waters for elections, will primarily focus on how the US imperialistic designs have been working on India, and the nuclear deal happens to be an important cog in such a wheel. The campaign will also urge the Government to implement the CMP and take into account that a “majority in Parliament” does not support the deal.

Setting the tone of the mass campaign, the CPI(M) campaign material says, “This deal should be seen as part of Manmohan Singh Government’s attempt to integrate India more closely with the US.”

The party then lists a host of such closeness, including the Indo-US CEO forum titled US-India Strategic Economic Partnership, the Defence Framework Agreement; the Logistics and Service Agreement; and military acquisition with the US.

“The campaign is to educate the masses in a simplified language about the adverse impact of the nuclear deal and other US imperialistic polices,” CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said.

The Left parties will do a political balancing act too. They want to put the onus of survival of the Government on the Congress besides showing that the “communal” BJP is an imperialistic party as well. “Now the UPA Government wants the Left to support it to implement the BJP Government’s pro-American policy,” a campaign pamphlet of the party says and adds (regarding economic cooperation and strategic alliance with the US), “The UPA Government has continued the same direction as the BJP-led NDA.”

The CPM explains why it does not want the Government “to go forward with a deal against our interests”. “Once we go into negotiations with multilateral bodies (IAEA, NSG), it would be impossible for India to change those agreements. Therefore, any re-consideration of the 123 Agreement and the impact of the Hyde Act must be done here and now, before proceeding any further.”

Regarding a question on the political mechanism, Karat says, “It’s for the Congress to finalise. From our side, there will be six members.”