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It's over between Left, UPA; N-talks reach a dead end
Published on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 08:36, Updated at Tue, Oct 09, 2007 in Nation section
Tags: Indo-US Nuclear Deal, IAEA , New Delhi
THE N-LINK: IAEA chief Mohammed El Baradei arrived at the Mumbai airport on Monday evening.
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IAEA chief talks to PM in hush-hush meeting
There was no word from either PMO or IAEA chief about what was discussed.
New Delhi: Monday night's political drama has set the stage for the final act of separation between the Left and UPA.
Even as the UPA-Left panel meets on Tuesday, last night’s meeting made the Government make up its mind that it will go ahead with its informal dialogue with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
It was a crucial decision to make as IAEA chief Mohammed El Baradei is in India on a three-day visit.
However, the Left insists it will not budge on the Indo-US nuclear deal issue. “We have our opinion and we are convinced that this deal is not in the interests of India. Those who are advocating the deal maybe convinced but we are not,” Left leader Sitaram Yechury said.
Regarding his one-on-one with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said earlier in on Tuesday evening that there shouldn't be any dialogue at all with the IAEA, formal or informal.
Sensing trouble Congress chief Sonia Gandhi immediately invited the Left leaders for a dialogue but even that failed.
Relations between the Left and UPA have dipped further, after Sonia Gandhi's attack on the Left at a public meeting in Haryana on Sunday where she said, “We must understand that such elements are not only the enemies of the Congress, but they are also enemies of progress and development.”
She may have done an about turn from this onslaught but the Left wouldn’t be mollified. Earlier on Tuesday it was only CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu, who was trying to mediate between the warring allies.
“I have told Karat and Yechury to at least listen to what Pranab is saying,” Basu appealed to the Left leaders.
And as day wore on, Sonia Gandhi briefed President Pratibha Patil on the fast-paced political developments, which was a fair indication of the prevailing grim scenario.
Tuesday's crucial UPA-Left nuclear panel meeting will decide if this Government is going to survive for long. But Karat's outright rejection on the Government proposal that the IAEA dialogue shouldn't be treated as operationalisation of the deal meant that talks had reached a dead end.
(With inputs from Pallavi Ghosh)
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