No comrades-in-arms Left to fall back on | More

'EKLA CHALO RE'? CPM Gen Secy Prakash Karat has warned the PM to not go to G-8 either.

People who read this also read:

IBNLive Chat: 'PM has been wrongly advised on N-deal'

IBN World Executive Editor Dr Vidya Shankar Aiyar discusses the good, the bad and the ugly of the nuke deal.

• US mounts pressure, Pranab turns to Left
• FAQs: Why Left thinks N-deal isn't right

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Bhiwani to Beijing: Lessons from a journey

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• IBNLive Chat: 'PM has been wrongly advised on N-deal'
• US mounts pressure, Pranab turns to Left
• FAQs: Why Left thinks N-deal isn't right

Keywords: Upa, Left

New Delhi: A day after its long-standing ally Samajwadi Party made public its opinion on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Left parties will go into a huddle in New Delhi on Friday to take a call on the timing and modalities of withdrawal of support to the Central Government.

The Left says it will withdraw support once the Government confirms its plans of going to the IAEA for a ratification of the safeguards agreement.

CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat has also said if the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were to go to the G8 - which is now a sure thing - it will be considered as a movement on the nuclear deal.

But how strong is the Left placed? It seems the comrades are left with no allies to back them up

The CPM will be left with no friends expect for the Telugu Desam in its corner. But the TDP too, insiders believe, may opt to join the NDA flock post elections-

Karunanidhi's DMK may be one of the Left's oldest allies but with Congress’ 35 MLAs keeping his minority government alive in Tamil Nadu, the Kaliangar will not be sharing a platform with the Left in elections.

Sharad Pawar's NCP, Lalu's RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan have all attempted to mediate in the present crisis, even offering to stand counter guarantee for the government that they will not proceed beyond the IAEA-

But with CPM's stubborn rejection of this proposal, these parties have given up. The only ones standing by the CPM are fellow left parties who have little choice.

"As long as the people are with us we will not be isolated,” says CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan.

Even while the CPM presents a united face, there are believed to be fissures within. Sitaram Yechury, the man who has been the conduit between the Left and the UPA over the period of the uneasy alliance is reportedly unhappy with the way the crisis has been handled resulting in the party's virtual isolation.

But the isolation is near-complete. By the party's own assessment it’s is unlikely to return more than 40 Lok Sabha seats.

Feedback from West Bengal is grim - it may well be the worst performance of the Left since 1984 - not more than 25 seats are likely. In Kerala repeating 2004's clean sweep is out of the question.

Possibly the Left anthem could now will be ekla chalo re. (Walk alone).