On meet eve, Left underlines its hardline

Even as the UPA and the Left parties looked set to give a formal shape to the political committee to look into the Left's concerns about the Hyde Act

Even as the UPA and the Left parties looked set to give a formal shape to the political committee to look into the Left’s concerns about the Hyde Act on Thursday, the two sides stood firm on their respective position about the next step of negotiations with the IAEA.

After the four Left parties met on Wednesday to chalk out their strategy, CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Government’s announcement about the political mechanism must be accompanied with the commitment that it will not go ahead with operationalisation of the deal until the committee comes out with its findings.

Government sources, however, asserted that such “pre-conditions” were difficult to accept as it would tantamount to putting the nuclear deal on hold, which was “unacceptable”. Left sources said they expected the Government to give an “indication”, which would give a clear sense that operationalisation of the deal would be put on hold.

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“We were given to understand that the Government would not proceed with the deal till they clear all our concerns. Now what we hope is an indication or a set of words to that effect in the statement which announces the political mechanism after a UPA-Left meeting,” said a Left leader.

“We have told the Government that we need an assurance that it will not proceed with the deal while the mechanism is at work. Otherwise the committee serves no purpose,” CPI National Secretary D Raja said. It is expected that a mid-course between these two views could be arrived at Thursday’s meeting.

Karat, Bardhan on panel

As the UPA-Left standoff continued, the four Left parties met to discuss the contours of the political mechanism. While CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan are set to be in the committee, there could be a toss up between Yechury and Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas for the third slot. From the Government side, Mukherjee, Antony, and Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmad Patel are likely to be on the panel. Two to three members could also be drawn from among UPA constituents. But the final list would be drawn only after the UPA-Left meeting, sources said.