According to him, few know what is exactly in the IAEA agreement. “The Government has kept us all in the dark. This being the case, how can CPM and CPI say that they have no problems with the agreement which they have not seen,” said Chandrachoodan.

A member of the 15-member UPA-Left nuclear committee, Chandrachoodan is of the view that once India signs the deal, “the ball will be in the US court and then it is up to the IAEA to take it to the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) and to the US Congress. This is exactly what the Left parties had been opposing all along.”

The FB too is not happy with the “sudden’change” in the position of the big brothers. “Till now, the Left had been opposing the deal from all fronts on the ground that it would derail India’s independent foreign policy and indigenous nuclear programmes. The CPM and the CPI had even threatened to withdraw their support to the Governemnt if it went ahead with the deal. This sudden change is inexplicable,” said G Devarajan of the FB.

According to him, signing the IAEA agreement amounts to operationalising the deal and this was something the Left had been opposing all along.