By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi : The Left parties will meet Monday to strategise their stance in parliament on the India-US civilian nuclear deal, even as they said it was for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to “protect his government”.
“It is his (prime minister’s) government and it is for him to protect his government and not our responsibility. He has to decide if he has to run his government,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said, reiterating the Left’s rejection of the nuclear deal.
The CPI-M leads the Left parties that give outside support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Karat was speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after attending a meeting of the party’s state unit.
Echoing Karat, Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary D. Raja said Manmohan Singh should “squarely” address the issue rather than make “political” statements.
“It is the issue of the deal and the prime minister should squarely address the issue and not make any political statement. We are not part of the government and it is up to the government to decide what to do,” Raja told IANS in New Delhi.
He added: “The Left parties will meet tomorrow to draw up the strategy for the debate on the nuclear deal in parliament.”
The prime minister is to make a statement on the deal in parliament Monday, followed by a debate Tuesday and Thursday.
Karat also hit out at Manmohan Singh for daring the Left to withdraw support over the nuclear deal, saying they were aware he was “a very sensitive person” about his government’s relations with the US.
“In fact, this is not a matter of sensitivity but a matter of serious import. We don’t want to go ahead with the agreement. The UPA government should look into the Common Minimum Programme. Nowhere does it mention the India-US nuclear deal,” Karat contended.
In an interview to The Telegraph published Saturday, Manmohan Singh had said that he would not go back on the deal. “I told them (the Left leaders) to do whatever they want to do, if they want to withdraw support, so be it.”