The UPA and the Left are struggling to put together a joint committee to unlock the impasse over the N-deal, 4 days after the two sides went public with their intention.
NEW DELHI: The UPA and the Left are struggling to put together a joint committee to unlock the impasse over the Indo-US nuclear deal — four days after the two sides went public with their intention to set up a committee to look into the implications of the Hyde Act on the 123 agreement and the implications of the nuclear deal on the nation’s security cooperation and foreign policy.
According to senior UPA leaders, there is some confusion on whether the PM, Sonia Gandhi and Prakash Karat will be a part of the committee or not.
The CPI(M) general secretary is reportedly unwilling to be a part of a committee that does not have either the PM or Sonia.
In the PM’s case, he cannot obviously be part of a committee that is headed by a minister in his cabinet and he does not have the time to head the committee as well.
Liberals in the Left are keen that both Karat and his CPI counterpart AB Bardhan should be a part of the committee to ensure that not only are they a party to whatever is decided but also stick by it.
Senior UPA leaders and those mediating between the two sides are hoping to persuade at least Sonia to be a part of the committee so that it is easier for both Karat and Bardhan to be on it.
Barring the announcement regarding the setting up of the committee little has been said by either side about its composition. It is, however, reliably learnt that there is some confusion on the issue of who all will be in the committee.
The popular view is that Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA’s main trouble shooter, will head the committee that is likely to include two representatives from the CPI(M) and the CPI and one each from the RSP and the Forward Block. The Congress is expected to have five representatives on the committee and one each from the RJD, DMK and the NCP.
Though the threat to the government appears to have subsided at least for the moment, the standoff of the last fortnight appears to have left a sour taste in the mouths on both sides. Prime minister Manmohan Singh is determined that the deal must go through and views the current situation as a temporary hiccup.
The Left on the other hand is pressing ahead with its opposition to the deal and in a series of pamphlets brought out as a part of its campaign against the deal, it has termed it a “sellout” to the US.
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