CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, in fact, today acted as a catalyst to rejuvenate a moribund United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), even as the Publicity and Publication Committee of the ruling Congress finetuned its strategy to launch a drive to showcase the UPA Government’s policies.

By this evening, the newly appointed UNPA Chairperson Mulayam Singh Yadav declared the Third Front’s decision to launch a nationwide campaign against the UPA Government’s policies, starting with an agitation over its anti-farmer policies in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The new UNPA convener, TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu, declared that the nuclear deal is “no longer a UPA issue” it is a national issue and the Government must not proceed without Parliament’s approval. “We are certainly firmly with the Left parties,” said UNPA spokesperson Amar Singh. Sharing the dais with them were INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala and AGP leader Brindaban Goswami, among others.

At the AICC headquarters, chairperson of the AICC Publicity Committee Digvijay Singh declared that the Congress was gearing up for a publicity blitzkrieg including circulation of multi-lingual printed materials, advertisements, media interviews and chats, to “expose” the NDA regime’s role in the Sethusamudram project, which had figured in the BJP and the NDA manifesto in 1999.

As for the nuclear deal, a senior Congress leader explained, “It is on hold until the next UPA-Left committee meeting on November 16. After that the leadership has to take a political call whether it is ready for mid-term polls. The days leading to Gujarat Assembly election could be crucial.”

“Today, it is nuclear deal, tomorrow it will be something else (for the Left to attack the government),” AICC media cell Chairman Veerappa Moily told reporters in the evening. The Congress leadership was conscious that the Left was reluctant to share the anti-incumbency factor by going the whole hog.

Only yesterday, the Congress had slammed the CPM-led Left Front government in West Bengal for “food riots” over alleged siphoning off of food from the public distribution system. Today, the Left issued a stinging rejoinder accusing the “mahajot” (a reference to the Trinamool-Congress combine) of inciting violence.

At the meeting of the Publicity Committee today, Rahul Gandhi deliberated upon the strategy to publicise an Action Taken Report on the Sachar panel’s findings and Prime Minister’s 15-Point programme for minority welfare. The committee is in the process of preparing campaign materials on 60 years of Independence, achievements of the UPA Government, minority welfare schemes, and a comparative analysis of budgetary allocations to states by the UPA and the NDA regimes.

Earlier in the day, Karat spent two hours with Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh and Naidu at Singh’s residence. The CPM leader was learnt to have briefed these leaders about the Left’s deliberations with the Government over the nuclear deal so far. This was followed by a meeting of UNPA leaders at Ajay Chautala’s residence. They gave a formal shape to the UNPA which so far was a loosely knit group- nominating Chairperson, Convenor, and other office-bearers. AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa was conspicuous by her absence, even though an invitation had been extended to her. Chautala maintained that the UNPA was engaged in “parleys” with her.