Left asks Karunanidhi to resolve N-deal tangle

MEETING OF MINDS: Left says as a senior UPA leader, Karunanidhi will take up the issue with Congress.

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New Delhi: The Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement is generating a lot of heat in India and efforts are on to resolve differences between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left.

The Left has now requested Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to intervene and help in arriving at a compromise.

On Sunday, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja met Karunanidhi in Chennai over the N-deal logjam.

The DMK has taken the stand that it wants the nuclear deal as well as support of the Left allies and has urged the Left to remain patient so that the UPA boat is not rocked.

"Left has requested Karunanidhi to intervene and take help take a proper decision on the issue," Karat said.

Karat added they had put forth Left's views on the UPA government's move to go ahead with negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the safeguards agreement.

"We are against it (Indo-US N-deal). We have explained to him our stand. As a senior leader of the UPA, Karunanidhi will take up the issue with the Congress. We have assured him that the Left parties will discuss the matter and come out with a solution," Karat said.

CPI leader AB Bardhan also said in Bhubaneswar that the UPA government should not stake its survival over the nuclear deal since nobody wanted early polls and concentrate of bring down soaring inflation.

"The priority at this moment is to fight the rising inflation and not the nuclear deal," Bardhan was quoted as saying by PTI.

"There should not be early elections as nobody favours it except the divisive forces. I do not understand as to why the government is in such a hurry to go ahead with the deal," Bardhan added.

"After all, the UPA government should realise it is not going to be a deal between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush but between India and the US," the CPI leader said.

The focus will soon shift to Delhi as Karunanidhi is scheduled to reach Delhi soon in a bid to resolve the crisis.

Karunanidhi has also asked all secular parties not to allow communal forces to gain an upper hand and said if such forces come to power, issues like construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya would crop up again.

The Left has already threatened to withdraw its support to the Congress-led UPA Government if India goes ahead with the nuclear deal.

(With inputs from PTI)