Left talks tough but not ready to pull UPA down

STILL IN LOVE? CPI-M's Prakash Karat (L) indicated that they would not rock the UPA government.

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New Delhi: There could be some relief for the Manmohan Singh government following the war of words with the Left parties over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

On Friday, Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat made it clear the marriage could continue even if the honeymoon was over.

"Honeymoon may be over but marriage can continue," Prakash karat said while walking in for the Politburo meeting.

Karat was replying to a question on a statement made by Communist Party of India (CPI) leader AB Bardhan that the honeymoon with the UPA is over underlining that relation with the government has undoubtedly worsened.

But Bardhan also said that withdrawing support to the government is not the best option just yet.

The CPI-M Politburo on Friday worked to formulate a response that will state the party's strong reservations about the government's foreign policy and will demand the government come clean on the trajectory of its future strategic alignments.

Sources say the Left will ask for concrete assurances from the Prime Minister that national interest will not be compromised with and will also urge the government to come clear on what expectations the US has in return for nuclear cooperation.

The Left will want to know what impact such an agreement may have on India's relations with countries like Iran.

But the pressure from the smaller Left parties also need to be factored in as they are demanding that the Left's relationship with the UPA be redefined.

"Whether it is continuance, whether it is issue based, or let the government as a minority government or withdraw support and pull it down - we must redefine our relationship with the UPA," Bardhan had said during CPI's Central Secretariat meeting in New Delhi on Friday.

"The time has come to review the entire performance of this UPA government and for us the Left to redefine our relationship with the government," Bardhan added.

But there will be no a simple solution. The Left has already insisted that the nuclear deal with the US shouldn't be operationalised.

But that is not enough and the Politburo wants to understand how much ground the UPA government is willing to concede.

And for the government these negotiations could prove tougher than those for the 123 agreement.