Countdown has begun

By Venkatesh Kesari

New Delhi

July 6: The countdown has begun after the government and the Left have taken their positions on the nuclear deal with the US.

The next week will be politically crucial. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has won the first round of battle by getting the Samajwadi Party on board and thereby broken the UNPA, the Left is waiting for the government’s formal reply on the issue before its deadline of July 7.

But on the eve of deadline, the Congress is tight-lipped on when the government would get back to the Marxists about its decision to proceed to the IAEA board of governors for the safeguards agreement.

Well-placed sources said that it is for external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to reply since he is heading the UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement. It had held nine rounds of meetings so far and completed discussions on all aspects of the agreement. A next meeting, if held, will finalise its findings.

But with Samajwadi Party announcing complete support to the deal and the government’s determination to go ahead, there is hardly any scope left for rapprochement between the government and the Left.

"It is for senior leader Pranab Mukherjee to reply. He will reply in an appropriate manner," was what AICC media department chairperson Veerappa Moily said when asked whether the head of the UPA-Left joint mechanism on the nuclear deal would respond before the Left deadline.

The Congress had earlier rejected the July 7 deadline contending sovereign governments or political parties cannot be bound by ultimatums.

The party top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, had held detailed consultations soon after the Left ultimatum. The Left has been demanding that the PM should make the position clear on the issue before he proceeds to Japan on the G-8 Summit on Monday.

Defence minister A.K. Antony, who is also a member of the UPA-Left committee, on Sunday said there was no threat to the UPA government at the Centre on the deal issue.

The government will be able to prove its majority in the Lok Sabha, Mr Antony said in Thiruvananthapuram after visiting senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran, who celebrated his 90th birthday on Saturday.

"The Left parties have the freedom to take their stand on the issue, no one should teach the Congress the importance of independence and foreign policy," he said, according to an agency report.

In Jaunpur, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said: "We supported the Congress on the nuclear deal issue in national interest. It has given a good message to the world that Indians can take decisions in the interest of the country."