If UPA defies us on n-deal, will pull out but won’t topple: Bardhan

While the Left studies the India-specific IAEA safeguards agreement and waits for the meeting with the UPA on May 28...

While the Left studies the India-specific IAEA safeguards agreement and waits for the meeting with the UPA on May 28, the Communist Party of India (CPI) said today that while it would withdraw support if the government went ahead with the deal without its permission, it would allow the government to continue as a minority government.

Asked in an interview on CNBC-TV18’s India Tonight whether the Left, if it withdraws support on the deal, would also move a vote of no-confidence against the government, CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan said that the Left would not do so. Bardhan said that there was

no point in bringing the government down as there would remain barely nine months for it to complete its full term.

“I have stated what is our position. There is nothing more to add to it,” Bardhan said, when contacted by The Indian Express. In his interview, Bardhan also ruled out the possibility of supporting any vote of no-confidence moved by the opposition BJP saying it was “extremely unlikely.” When contacted, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury did not comment on Bardhan’s statements saying he has not watched the interview.

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Despite Bardhan’s statement, it remains uncertain whether the UPA would go ahead with the deal as a minority government. Speaking to The Indian Express during Idea Exchange in January this year, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said: “For the IAEA or US, it would be difficult to have such an agreement with a government that has lost majority. So we have to try to carry our partners along. Our resolve remains, but let’s see how far we can progress…We would (also) not like to be blamed for being unable to run a coalition government for even one full term.”

Bardhan’s statement comes after the Samajwadi Party (SP), one of the Left’s close associates, said it was willing to discuss the nuclear deal issue with the UPA if it shared some “new facts.” In fact, SP, which collaborated with the Left in its opposition to the deal, snubbed the Left saying that all along, its interpretation of the deal was based on feedback only from the Left.