By IANS
New Delhi : The Left Thursday continued discussions with Third Front leaders to give final shape to its strategy against the India-US nuclear deal and to push Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government to a corner on the issue.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat met Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh Thursday morning at his party headquarters here.
During the 15-minute meeting, both sides are believed to have continued discussions on a joint strategy to oppose the nuclear deal. Karat and CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury met the Third Front leaders Tuesday as well.
Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh also met Communist Party of India (CPI) leaders separately.
Constituents like the Samajwadi Party and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) have been meeting the Left to seek out common issues on which they could work together against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The UNPA has demanded that the India-US nuclear agreement, which has strongly been opposed by the communists, be debated in parliament before the government takes any steps to implement the deal.
While it was not insisting on a vote on the issue in parliament, UNPA leaders said the government should not proceed with it if the majority of parliament was against it.
In an editorial in the latest issue of the party mouthpiece People’s Democracy, the CPI-M agreed that the majority in parliament should decide the fate of the contentious deal.
Although the official spokesperson of the Congress has said it was not alarmed by the Left-UNPA meetings, party media committee chairperson Veerappa Moily has termed them “unfortunate”.