Left Vs Congress: PM sets nuke clock ticking

LEFT VS PM: The PM is hopeful there will be time to take the deal to its logical conclusion.

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Hokkaido (Japan): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set the clock ticking by announcing Congress's intent to approach IAEA. The PM categorically stated on his way to the G8 summit in Tokyo on Monday that the Government will go to IAEA Board of Governors.

Reacting sharply to this, the Left parties have advanced their meeting to take a final call on the issue. The Left meet will be held on Tuesday morning, instead of after the UPA-Left nuclear panel meeting, scheduled for Thursday.

Any decision of Left's withdrawal of support may even come out from Tuesday's meeting.

Manmohan Singh has been saying for some time now that the Indo-US Nuclear Deal was to herald the arrival of India on the global scene and that it was definitely in the interest of the country. However, Left tactics have thwarted him throughout.

Now, with the Samajwadi Party willing to support the Congress on the nuclear deal from outside, the Prime Minister is back on solid ground again and has set the stage for a final showdown with the Left.

He says that he is concerned about the time constraint but is still hopeful that there will be time to take the deal to its logical conclusion.

"We have been assured that once we take the decision to go to the IAEA the process will move pretty fast," Manmohan Singh stated.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister sounds sympathetic to the Left but he makes it quite clear that he doesn't need their backing for the deal.

"They are our valuable colleagues and we still hope that we can find a way out which will be satisfactory to all concerned," the Prime Minister said.

The Left, of course, is convinced that the Prime Minister has spoken out of turn.

On a day when the UPA interlocuter, External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee invited them for the final round of discussion at the UPA-Left panel, the Left hadn't expected any public statement from the Prime Minister on the deal.

Their response was a threat to withdraw support.

CPM General Secretary, D Raja said, "Since the Prime Minister has made such a categorical statement, I do not think we can wait for Mr Pranab Mukherjee's meeting or his explanations. I do not think the Prime Minister has any respect for any democratic functioning."

It could well be the end of a relationship anytime between Tuesday and Thursday. The Left and the Congress had been moving in different directions on the deal and now the final act is well and truly near.

(With inputs from in Diptosh Majumdar and Smita Nair in New Delhi)