Left dumps Govt, dares it to take floor test

FINAL VERDICT: Prakash Karat said Left will meet President Patil on Wednesday to give their withdrawal letter.

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New Delhi: The Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal has driven the final wedge between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government and the Left. The Red brigade has finally made up its minds and decided to withdraw its support to the UPA Government.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, after a meeting of the Left Coordination Committee in New Delhi on Tuesday, said that the Left parties will be meeting President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday to hand over their letter of withdrawal.

"The Left had said if the Prime Minister goes to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) the Left will withdraw support in view of the PM's action. The time has come and we have asked the President for an appointment tomorrow so that we can go and withdraw support formally," Karat said.

Karat also said that they have already sent a letter to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying the meeting of UPA-Left Nuclear Coordination Committee called by the government on July 10 is meaningless.

“The Government has refused to provide the text of the draft safeguards agreement without which the UPA-Left committee will not be able to finalise its findings,” Karat said.

The Left will also request the President to ask the government to seek a Vote of Confidence in Parliament.

"We will vote against Congress in Parliament," Communist Party of India (CPI) National Secretary D Raja said.

Another CPI-M leader Nilotpal Basu said, "The Prime Minister himself has announced the they will approach IAEA. This is a contentious issue imported extraneously and not a part of Common Minimum Programme."

Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader T J Chandrachoodan justified the their stand saying, “This is not a reciprocal to our approach with the government. The faith is lost and the relations are spoilt and so are not waiting for the Prime Minister to return.”

The Left Coordination Committee meeting at the CPI-M Headquarters was attended by Karat, his CPI counterpart AB Bardhan and Raja, RSP leaders Chandrachoodan and Abani Roy and Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas and G Devarajan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's categorical statement that the Government will go to the IAEA Board of Governors proved to be the final straw.

"As soon as we decide to go to IAEA then the matter is in the court of Board of Governors and we hope they can take quick decisions. I sincerely hope that the world community will help us get over this as soon as possible. We have support of all major world powers. I have discussed with Chinese leaders in more than one occasion. I cannot say that I have their firm assurance but I have a strong feeling that when the matter comes before the relevant international forum China will not be a problem," Manmohan had said on his way to the G8 summit in Tokyo on Monday.

The Left reacted sharply to the Prime Minister's statement, advancing their meeting to decide on the timing of withdrawing support.

With the Left meeting President Patil on Wednesday to withdraw its support to the UPA Government, the Congress has called for an emergency meeting at 10 Janpath - the residence of Sonia Gandhi.