UPA and Left begin drifting polls apart

On the eve of the crucial meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Left leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury are said to have told Congress President Sonia Gandhi this evening that if the BJP could keep its Hindutva issues (like the Ram Mandir) out of its “national agenda” for the sake of running a coalition, why is the Congress finding it so difficult to “delay” the nuclear deal?

At a meeting with the Congress President at 10, Janpath, the CPM leaders claimed they were being reasonable by merely insisting on delaying matters, rather than asking for scrapping of the deal.

While Sonia reportedly gave them a “patient hearing,” raising hopes among the Left that she was “receptive,” Congress sources later told The Indian Express that the call for delaying implementation effectively means “killing” the nuclear deal which was unacceptable to the ruling party. The Congress president told the Left that she would get back after talking to her party, which she did in the Core Committee meeting that was any how scheduled to discuss the political situation in Karnataka in the wake of Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s decision to finally resign.

At the end of the day, the Congress maintained its no-compromise stance on the IAEA talks later this month although CPI general secretary AB Bardhan stated today that the Left would withdraw support from the government if it went ahead with IAEA negotiations.

Earlier, Congress’s main interlocutor and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Karat and reiterated the need for the government to start IAEA talks. To which Karat threatened that the Congress would “have to face the consequences”.

At this point, sources said, Mukherjee told the Left that he could not unilaterally amend his party position and if the Left was adamant on this issue, then it ought to take it up with the Congress president. As a result, a hurried meeting was arranged between Left leaders and Sonia, who was at an Air Force Day reception then. The meeting happened on her return.

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