A day after being hit by a double-digit inflation figure, the Congress suffered another blow on Saturday.
On top of inflation and stand-off with Left comes a fresh blow
NEW DELHI: A day after being hit by a double-digit inflation figure, the Congress suffered another blow on Saturday. This one came from BSP chief Mayawati who announced that her party had withdrawn support to the Manmohan Singh government. Her reasons: rising prices and NewDelhi’s “stepmotherly’’ treatment of UP.
With 19 BSP MPs gone from its kitty in Parliament, the government is now completely dependent on Left support for survival. It means less bargaining power for the Congress and a higher degree of vulnerability to Left pressures in the ongoing nuclear standoff. Mayawati’s announcement has upset the calculations of the party’s number crunchers who were banking on the combined support of the BSP and SP to make up for the exit of the Marxists in case they carried out threat of pulling the rug when the government finalises the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Now, the SP alone, with 39 MPs, cannot make up the shortfall.
The Congress has no choice, therefore, but to confront hard reality. It has to choose between the Left and the nuclear deal. It could prolong its agony by delaying the decision but not for long. A choice will have to be made before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets US President George Bush in Japan on July 8 on the sidelines of the G-8 Outreach Summit. The Americans are expecting a final word from the government at that meeting on the fate of an agreement that was supposed to change the course of Indo-US relations and end India’s nuclear isolation.
Despite hectic efforts by Pranab Mukherjee on behalf of the government and UPA leaders like Lalu Yadav and Sharad Pawar on behalf of the ruling alliance, the Left remains adamant in its opposition to going ahead with the deal. But the Congress has not given up hope. A senior leader said the party is working other back channels (he didn’t want to identify them) to persuade the main stumbling block, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, to soften his stand.
The government compromise offer is this. It finalises the safeguards agreement and gets the required waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group. But it will not sign the 123 Agreement with the US unless the Indian Parliament gives the go ahead.
The Left wants the formula in writing, which the government has refused to do. And that’s where matters are stuck. Obviously, there’s a lack of trust between the two partners. A senior government minister admitted that it’s a difficult gap to bridge. ``I can’t say where this is going and how it’s going to end,’’ he confessed. ``A resolution looks very difficult at this point.’’
There is a strong possibility that the June 25 meeting between the UPA and the Left on the nuclear issue will be postponed as the partners grapple for a compromise. Both sides are chary of giving a political advantage to the BJP by snapping ties after a very public quarrel over the nuclear deal. The hunt for a respectable face-saver continues.
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