Just four days after the UPA government and the Left agreed to form a mechanism to iron out their differences the CPI(M) has singled out PM for a direct attack.
NEW DELHI: Just four days after the UPA government and the Left agreed to form a mechanism to iron out their differences over the Indo-US nuclear agreement, the CPI(M) has singled out Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a direct attack.
Releasing four pamphlets that brand the Prime Minister as US President George Bush’s “friend”, the CPI(M) launched a high-voltage campaign against the burgeoning economic and strategic alliance between New Delhi and Washington.
Coming just two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi declared full support to Singh on the deal, it’s quite apparent that the party has decided to take on the government on the nuke issue.
The pamphlets seem to be part of a strategy to hit back at the Prime Minister for daring the CPI(M) to withdraw support to the UPA government on the nuclear issue. The immediate targets of attack in the pamphlets are the Indo-US naval exercises —along with Japan, Australia, and Singapore — slated to begin in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
They explain in simple language why the Left is opposing the nuclear deal and India’s growing proximity to the US.
Titled “Defend India’s Interests,” the pamphlets carry four main headings underlining the party’s political goals: Don’t Proceed With The Nuclear Deal; Nuclear Energy and The Electricity Sector - False Promises; No Mortgage of Indian Economy; and No Strategic Partnership with America. They are being printed in all vernacular languages and are meant for widespread distribution.
The main burden of the argument is that the nuclear deal is a sellout and India is becoming a client state of America. They also try to paint the Prime Minister as a collaborator to the American designs in the sub-continent. The party expressed concern over the American bid to “destabilise” West Asia, including Iran, and questioned the UPA government’s priorities.
Pamphlet No.1 starts with this paragraph: “The Prime Minister has stated that George Bush is the greatest friend of India and he has helped India in this deal. In his own country, George Bush is regarded as the most unpopular President and has the lowest public ratings. So, how come a man who is not friendly to his own people has suddenly become India’s best friend? The truth is quite the opposite.” The note, therefore, concludes: “This deal should be seen as a part of the Manmohan Singh government’s attempt to integrate India more closely with the US.”
The campaign material, running into thousands of words, tries to rubbish all the major initiatives the Prime Minister has taken on strategic and economic cooperation with the US.
CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury tried to downplay the anti-Manmohan Singh rhetoric and said the party was against a regional alliance, as exemplified by the five-nation military exercises. According to Yechury, the military exercises have “far more dangerous consequences than a bilateral alliance, because joint military exercises with all these countries sends out a meaning that we are with a regional grouping.”
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