Go by majority on N-deal: Left to govt

In response to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's remarks on the Indo-US nuke deal in Parliament, the CPM says it's surprised that the government is still trying to seek a consensus.

''We are trying for a broad based political consensus,'' said Mukherjee in Parliament.

The foreign minister's statement gave away nothing new on how much the government would risk to see the nuclear deal through. But it was enough for the Left to deliver an ultimatum.

In a statement, the CPM said, ''It is ironical that the statement to Parliament says that the government will continue to 'seek' a broad political consensus within the country. The government should first respect the majority opinion expressed by Parliament when the 123 Agreement was discussed in the Winter session.''

''The government should acknowledge that its stand on the nuclear deal does not have the support of Parliament. There is no political consensus and hence it should not proceed further with the agreement,'' the statement said.

Time is running out and the Left is not budging. So, after a hugely please all Budget, does the government feel more confident about facing an early election?

The Congress is divided and strategists are debating two possible options.

Option one

• The government goes ahead with the nuke deal. The Left withdraws support. The Budget is not passed and there are early elections. In that case, the UPA would go to voters with the thwarted promises of farmer loan waivers as a key election issue.

Option two

• The government decides not to go ahead with the deal. The Budget is cleared and of course that means no early polls.

Earlier, Mukherjee said on Monday that the government was in the process of concluding negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Negotiators from India and IAEA concluded the fifth round of talks on the safeguards on Thursday and reported considerable progress towards the text which once completed will be presented to a Left-UPA committee.

News Source : Samachar