By IANS
New Delhi : A day after reiterating his opposition to the India-US nuclear deal, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat Tuesday met Third Front leaders in what is seen as a move to gather support for the Left’s stance on the controversial pact.
Left sources said Karat met Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader K. Yerran Naidu to discuss a joint strategy to oppose the deal in the wake of the government’s reported plans to call a special parliament session to discuss it.
At the one-hour meeting, Karat reportedly explained the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) led Left parties’ stance on the deal.
The sources said the leaders, who still nurse the idea of non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political parties coming together, also talked about other issues on which they could put up a united forum.
CPI-M leaders, however, admitted that they did not appreciate the politics of all the constituents of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) of which the Samajwadi Party and TDP are members.
The UNPA leaders are expected to meet Tuesday evening at former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala’s residence here.
On Monday, at the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left nuclear committee meeting, the Left rejected the government’s proposal to simultaneously discuss the deal in parliament and India-specific safeguard protocols with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The government is believed to have told its Left allies, who have been opposing the deal vehemently, that it could keep the nuclear deal aside if a majority of parliament opposes it.