We'll convince our Muslim voters of N-deal: Amar

THE LEFT(OVER): Relations with Left not damaged because of N-deal, but am sorry if Karat is hurt, says Amar Singh.

          

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Amar Singh: Left protected and defended any move that was for the execution of Article 356. They protected and saved Kalyan Singh’s as well as my government. Nonetheless, I am grateful to them and will remain grateful to them. I have said political decisions are not taken on (the basis of) bias, prejudices and hurt. Our decision – or the U-turn, so to say – is in the national interest and at the behest of Dr (APJ Abdul) Kalam’s advice and the responsibility of this delayed response lies on the UPA government and this dispensation because they did not consult us earlier.

Karan Thapar: How badly damaged are your relations with Prakash Karat today?

Amar Singh: I don’t think my relations with him are damaged, at least from my side.

Karan Thapar: He is hurt, he is upset.

Amar Singh: I am very sorry, he has not communicated this to me. But if he is hurt and upset, I am sorry about it from the core of my heart.

Karan Thapar: But there’s nothing you can do about it?

Amar Singh: I have also been hurt and upset so many times. There’s nothing he can do about it.

Karan Thapar: Another set of your former allies who are upset – and perhaps even angry – with you are your allies in the UNPA. Omar Abdullah has publicly said you are unraveling the UNPA, (O P) Chautala and TDP spokesperson have said you should be thrown out of the UNPA.

Amar Singh: Again, it’s not proper to say anything for any friend in public. But I will respond one by one if you give me opportunity and do not interrupt. My friend Farooq Abdullah never formally joined the UNPA, he was coming when UNPA took a decision to vote for Rasheed Masood. He openly voted for the official UPA candidate and also for Pratibha Patil. This is the response to Omar Abdullah.

For my friend and leader Chandrababu Naidu – and I will always consider him my elder brother, he has always been kind and I have no reason to believe he won’t be kind – was Convenor of the United Front. He presided over the meeting with Left parties and us in the morning, and in the evening, through newspapers we got to know he had joined NDA.

At least we had the decency of holding a meeting and communicating to each one of them that if you have to vote along with BJP and BSP, it was not possible for us. We made it candidly clear that day. It was decided by all leaders that we will await the decision of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through some nuclear expert. In the open press conference, Chautalaji suggested Dr Kalam. We did exactly what was collectively decided. Had Dr Kalam said the deal was anti-national, we would have accepted. But he said it was a deal in national interest, so we agreed.

Karan Thapar: So you are saying that neither Omar Abdullah nor Chandrababu Naidu – and I presume the same logic of yours applies to Chautala as well – have any right to criticise you for the position that you’ve taken, none of them has any right of demanding that you should be thrown out of the UNPA. That’s what you are saying?