UPA put govt's stability ahead of N-deal

SHOWING RED FLAG: CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury (L) says the the deal is not in India's interest.

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New Delhi: In the clearest indication yet that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will not let the Union Government collapse over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that they will go ahead with the deal only after a green signal from the Left.

While the tricky International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) India-specific safeguards have been successfully negotiated putting the deal in a decisive phase, the government is clear it will not risk an early election.

"IAEA negotiations have been completed. Now what is to be done and we told them (Left) that before we finalise the deal, we will come back to you and we will report to you," Mukherjee said on Saturday in New Delhi.

A day after Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary AB Bardhan shot off a missive to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh threatening to withdraw support if the government were to go ahead with the deal, Mukherjee reached out to the Left. Mukherjee clearly indicated that the UPA does not intend to sacrifice the government at the altar of the nuclear deal.

"It is not a question of being under the shadow of somebody or nobody. It's a question that we are running the government with their support. They have been supporting out government from Day I," Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee has been the chief trouble-shooter for the UPA over the political crisis sparked off by the deal and has always enjoyed a comfortable relation with the Left leaders.

He was in fact was elected to the Lok Sabha with Left support from Jangipur in 2004 and has always advocated the view that the UPA should not go proceed on the deal by alienating the Left. Finally his views seem to have prevailed.

The government’s left turn has also been forced by the unwillingness of other key UPA allies the DMK and the RJD to go in for an early election.

So while officials part of the negotiations remain confident that the next step- Nuclear Suppliers Group clearance - is not seen an insurmountable hurdle, the political bottleneck can only open if the government’s argument that the deal is less about America and more about nuclear commerce finds takers in the Red camp.

(With inputs from Sumon K Chakrabarti)