Left withdraws support to UPA government

NEW DELHI: Implementing their threat to pull the rug over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Left parties on Tuesday announced they would meet the President on Wednesday to withdraw support to the UPA government.
 
They said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statements on moving the IAEA soon had rendered any further talks on the issue meaningless.
 
The four parties -- CPI (M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP -- have sought an appointment with President Pratibha Patil for Wednesday morning to submit their letter of withdrawal of support and to demand that the government proves its majority
on the floor of the House.
 
"We will also urge the President to ask the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House," a top Left leader said after the hour-long meeting of the four parties which decided to pull the rug to end their four-and-a-half year relationship with the UPA.
 
Responding to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's suggestion for another meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the issue, the General Secretaries of the parties said the meeting, proposed on July 10, had been rendered "meaningless" since the Prime Minister had announced that the government would go to the IAEA Board of Governors very soon.
 
"As you are aware, the Left parties had decided that if the government goes to the IAEA Board of Governors, they will withdraw support. In view of the Prime Minister's announcement, that time has come," CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said.