UPA nixed at home, politically

NEW DELHI: Judging by the rash of criticism that came from the Right and the Left after the Nuclear Suppliers Group approved the historic India waiver on Saturday, the Manmohan Singh government and the Congress may find their opponents at home more difficult to tackle than the nay-sayers in Vienna. But for a brief while at least, before the reality of an upcoming election and a stormy Parliament session kick in, they had the luxury of basking in the after-glow of success.

For the PM in particular, the news from Vienna has come as a major boost, given the recent controversy over a leaked Bush Administration letter that nearly sank the nuclear deal. It counts as a personal victory for him after he coerced his party into risking the government for an initiative to which he alone was committed. Now, with his showpiece initiative on course to the finishing line, Singh can rest secure in the knowledge that he’s silenced his critics in his party.

For the Congress, on the other hand, the real business of politics will now begin. Had the deal died at the NSG stage, the party would have paid a heavy political price, with the shadow of an early election looming large. But the deal per se cannot help win an election, Congress leaders admit privately.

What it has done is give the party breathing time to prepare for the tests ahead, first the assembly elections  in four states and then the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Before that, there are bush fires to extinguish and Parliament to face. The Congress had put both governance and politics on hold for the nuclear deal. Now it no longer has excuses for delay and will have to get down to tackling myriad domestic issues that will dog the election process, whether it’s the double-digit inflation rate and runaway food prices or the vulnerable security environment after a series of bomb attacks or the communal trouble raging in Orissa or the revival of separatist sentiments in the sensitive Kashmir valley.

All these and of course, the nuclear deal will make for a stormy Parliament session, scheduled to begin on October 17. A senior Congress leader admitted that Parliament is unlikely to function and there is a distinct possibility that the government may choose to dissolve it early and announce elections in April next year.

Reactions from opposition parties to the NSG waiver gave a hint of what is in store when they face the government on the floor of the House.

``India has walked into the non-proliferation trap set by the US and given up its right to test,’’ said BJP leader Yashwant Sinha.

CPI leader D Raja carped, ``India has become part of the global strategy of the US.’’ Both parties are mulling strategies to put the government in the dock. These could include moving a no-confidence motion or a breach of privilege motion against the PM.