Indo-US nuclear deal : Not given up hope, says PM,Indian Politics, News Analysis, India News Online

Even as most observers have said that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal is dead as dodo, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he has not given up hope on building a consensus with UPA constituents and the supporting Left parties, which would enable the government to move forward in the matter. Despite the Prime Minister’s remarks made to mediapersons during his visit to Nigeria and South Africa and later in New Delhi last week, the Left says that it is happy with both Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi speaking about not going ahead with the nuclear deal for now.

—————————Box———————

Fifth round of talks today

The fifth round of talks between the UPA and the Left on the nuclear deal is taking place today, Oct. 22. Besides looking into objections raised by the Left parties to the 123 agreement, the political committee will examine aspects of the Hyde Act and its implications on foreign policy and security related matters.

The Left parties are expected to ask the Government to put on record Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s recent remarks that the Government would not go ahead with the nuclear deal for now. Observers say that the Government while reiterating its viewpoint, may not go as far as putting in black and white that the UPA will not go ahead with the nuclear deal till the Left agrees to it.

CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in Chennai on Oct. 19 that the party is looking forward to knowing the Government’s formal decision on the nuclear deal at the political committee meeting. He said the CPI(M) had asked the Government not to proceed further with the deal until its objections were fully addressed. Yechury said that the Committee findings would be taken into account by the government while taking a final decision on the nuclear deal.

———————————Box ends here———————-

Have to find a way out : PM

Speaking to mediapersons aboard his special aircraft during his foreign visits, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while conced¬ing that the Government’s image was affected in the wake of the controversy over the India-US nuclear deal, attacked the BJP for seeking his resignation. He hoped the government’s efforts to evolve a consensus with its allies and the supporting Left par¬ties would “enable us to move forward.”

On the BJP’s demand that he resign, as “he had lost the moral right to govern,” Dr. Singh said: “The BJP, of all politi¬cal parties, is the least qualified to talk about the moral right to govern.”

He referred to the BJP’s years in power at the Centre and held it responsible for the “holocaust” in Gujarat, with the then Union Home Minister, L. K. Advani, giving a clean chit to the State government despite the massacres “we all saw” in 2002.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government also presided over the “fiasco” at Agra (India-Pakistan talks) leading to collapse of the peace process. “We also know why the Kargil War took place. When the infiltrators were coming in, the govern¬ment in Delhi was sleeping. The BJP has no right to talk about moral governance,” he said.

Elaborating his observation at Tshwane (Pretoria) on the possibility of a consensus on the nuclear deal with the Left par¬ties, he said the process to resolve the “problems at home” was on.

“I have maintained there are some difficulties. We are a coalition. We have to find a way out. I have not given up hope yet,” he said in reply to a question, whether he was still hope¬ful of a consensus with the Left parties ahead of the next meet¬ing of the UPA-Left committee today.

On whether the government’s image was affected, Dr. Singh said: “When something doesn’t work out the way you plan, it does have an effect. But, as I said last week, this is not a one-issue government. We have lots of things on the agenda. We have done many things and there are lots of things to be done. So, I think there is a setback in one direction but I wouldn’t say it is the end of life.”

UPA allies also okayed nuclear deal : Manmohan

Responding to questions on opposition to the nuclear deal from within the UPA, Dr. Manmohan Singh said the UPA partners were part of the cabinet process when the 123 agreement was approved. He said, “in life one has to live with uncertainties. As far as the Cabinet is concerned, let me remind you that the Political Affairs Committee of the Cabinet which has representa¬tives of all major political parties in the coalition, had ap¬proved the 123 agreement. This agreement was approved by the Cabinet. So I do not know what you say about the UPA going back on it. They were part and parcel of the Cabinet process.”

The queries from mediapersons appeared to be the result of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s remarks in an interview with the Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta that he had doubts about the nuclear deal even before the Left raised its objec¬tions.

Congress echoes PM’s stand

With some UPA constituents, notably the DMK, going public with their reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Congress sought to remind its partners in the Government that the UPA had taken a “collective decision” to back the deal.

“In the last meeting of the UPA, a collective decision was taken that the UPA is with the deal. There has been no meeting after that. Unless the UPA holds another meeting and reverses its earlier decision, the stance taken at the first meeting remains,” AICC media department chairman Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday, Oct. 18.

He was responding to queries about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s remarks that he had doubts about the deal and that he took sides with the Left to save the Central Government. “Frankly the deal is not important, the Government is. I did have doubts about the deal. So I spoke for the Left. I also fought for the Left. I shared the Communists’ ideas with the PM and Sonia Gandhi,” Karunanidhi had said.

Moily reiterated that the nuclear deal has not been put on hold. “The nuclear deal is alive. It is not on oxygen; it is breathing on its own. The Congress and the Government are very anxious that the deal goes through,” said Moily.

PM not quitting

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has described as “baseless” the speculation that Dr. Manmohan Singh, who had staked his prestige on pushing through the nuclear deal, was contemplating resigning. AICC spokesperson and Union Minister of State Shakeel Ahmed said in New Delhi on Wednesday, Oct. 17, that there was no question of the Prime Minister considering any resignation move.

He rejected the suggestion that following the perceived erosion of his authority, Dr Singh was now reduced to being a “lame duck PM”. “Dr Singh is as powerful and competent a PM now as when the UPA government was formed, all our allies support him and have full confidence in him although there are bound to be differences in a coalition set-up that we try to address and resolve,” Ahmed said.

There has been a buzz in the wake of the nuclear affair fiasco that the PM was feeling “hurt” and “isolated” by the conduct of some of the UPA allies and even a Congress section, who are supposed to have let him down by forcing the government-Congress leadership to blink in the standoff with the Left in a desperate bid to avert mid-term polls.

Facing a volley of questions on the issue, Ahmed denied that the nuclear deal was now on hold. “The deal is not in cold stor¬age and is very much in the offing,” he claimed.

Ahmed, however, made it clear that in view of the Left’s concerns about the deal, the government is “duty-bound” to re¬solve them through dialogue. “Our discussions with the Left allies to narrow down our differences are on, we (the UPA-Left nuclear committee) are meeting on October 22 and, if required, there could be more meetings subsequently.”

Emphasizing that the government was obliged to take into confidence all its allies on various issues, Ahmed said it has been trying to sort out its differences with the Left on the nuclear matter and will “carry on after taking them on board”.

Cabinet reshuffle, AICC session to signal business as usual

There are reports that there may be a reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers as early as the end of this month. Though it is not expected to affect senior Ministers holding key portfo¬lios, there may be several changes at the Minister of State level.

The exercise is linked to the recent refurbishing of the AICC which saw Sonia Gandhi’s son, Rahul Gandhi being inducted as general secretary. The reshuffle is also aimed at sending the signal that the Government will move on from the ill-fated nego¬tiations with the Left on the nuclear deal.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had suggested that younger faces should find a place in the Government. There are a few young Congress leaders whose names are being talked about. DMK chief Karunanidhi will also decide if his daughter Kanimozhi is to be inducted into the Council of Ministers.

Apart from the Cabinet reshuffle, the Congress is planning an AICC session in New Delhi in early November. Reports say that the session is likely to be held before Nov. 9. Party sources said that Congress leaders want the session to be held before national leaders begin campaigning in the Gujarat Assembly elec¬tions.

Another report says that the UPA Government may also go in for preponing the winter session of Parliament. Instead of December, the session may start in mid-November. Most parties may not oppose the move as nobody wants the Parliament session to overlap the campaign for the Gujarat Assembly polls.

Congress to take on Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh

Congress president Sonia Gandhi signaled last week that the party would take on Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh in a bid to carve a space for itself in the country’s most populous and politically crucial state, which sends 80 mem¬bers to the Lok Sabha. Speaking in Rae Bareli during her visit to the constituency she represents in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said on Oct. 18 that the Centre’s showpiece National Rural Em¬ployment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was not being implemented properly in the state. She blamed the state government for this. Sonia Gandhi said that NREGS is a one hundred per cent centrally sponsored scheme, but the success of the scheme was de¬pendent upon action by the state governments.

UPA to complete its term now that nuclear deal is off : Basu

On the other side, veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu has said that the Manmohan Singh Government is set to complete its term, now that the Congress leadership has accepted the Left’s stand on the nuclear deal with the United States. He said in Kolkata on Oct. 19 that the CPI(M) is against foisting an early poll on the country.

At the end of the CPI(M) state secretariat meeting, Basu said, “We want this government to run for another one and a half years because we don’t want a mid-term election in the country.” He expressed satisfaction that “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have accepted the Left’s views.” Basu further said, “There were serious differences on the nuclear deal and the situation had come to such a pass that the UPA government was about to fall. I have heard they are not going to proceed with the deal and it is not taking place now. I am happy.”

Left will not allow India to be a junior partner of the US : Karat

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said that the Left parties are firmly against the India-US nuclear deal and would not allow India to be a junior partner of the United States. Speaking at a public meeting in Mumbai on Oct. 18, he said, the deal would hurt India on every count and asserted that it would not go through so long as the Left parties are around. He said the Left support to the UPA Government would last as long as the coalition stuck to the Common Minimum Programme.

Karat said that the nuclear deal was a part of comprehensive strategic and military relations that the U.S. wanted to have with India which could ultimately result in India yielding even military bases to the Americans for placing missiles aimed at Russia and China, pushing India into a dangerous situation.

“Why should we go and patrol the Strait of Malacca?” he asked and regretted that U.S.S. Nimitz, the American aircraft-carrier, which was instrumental in killing so many innocent people in Iraq, was anchored in Indian waters.

Karat sharply criticised the claim that the deal was neces¬sary for augmenting power supply. “They have not answered us on the question of the cost of a nuclear power plant that could be set up under the deal and also the price of the power and who would be using the power,” he said underscoring that the deal would result in many Enrons.

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan. addressing the public meeting, ridiculed the claim made by the government that the deal was still on. He said, “continuous switching on and off can result in short circuit and black-out.” He said the deal would result in India losing its foreign policy independence and won¬dered if this was the freedom for which the country fought so hard and for so long.

Congress-BJP war of words

The Prime Minister’s remarks about the BJP role in Gujarat when the NDA was in power at the Centre, has triggered a war of words between the Congress and the BJP. The BJP has described Dr. Manmohan Singh as “the weakest” PM ever, and alleged that he had lost his “sense of balance”. The Congress has retaliated by saying that members of the saffron party need to maintain their “mental balance.”

“They owe an apology to the country,” Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily told reporters. “The BJP statement was most un¬civilised and nothing less than an apology is called for... It was not only an insult to Dr. Singh as a person but an insult to the country,” he added.

A day after Manmohan Singh held the main Opposition party responsible for the “holocaust” in Gujarat, the “fiasco” during the Indo-Pak Agra summit and the Kargil incursion, the BJP react¬ed angrily, saying that he had been elevated to the office “by accident” and that his politics was marked by “convenience”.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad first said the PM had “lost his mental balance” by describing the Agra summit as a “fiasco”. However, he toned down his attack a little later to say that Singh was “displaying mental bankruptcy”.

“The history of the country is littered with a catalogue of sins of the Congress for which the country is still paying the price. The PM has conveniently forgotten that,” he said.

He dubbed Singh’s comments as “a desperate rattling of a PM who is much weakened and who does not enjoy authority in the cabinet, and the backing of his party and supporting parties”.

In his counter attack, Moily said, “The crude remarks show the desperation of NDA. The NDA is collapsing. There are no credible partners. There is a desperate search for issues and agenda.”

Prasad objected to Singh’s assertion that L K Advani, as Home Minister, had given a clean chit to the Narendra Modi gov¬ernment over the 2002 “holocaust”, a reference to the post-Godhra riots.

“Singh is a late entrant in politics by accident. He has developed selective amnesia. He has described the unfortunate riots in Gujarat as a holocaust. We would like to know his views on the selective, gruesome and targeted killing of Sikhs in 1984,” Moily said.

The Congress, on the other hand, put Modi on its radar, saying A B Vajpayee had called the post-Godhra riots a “national shame” but the BJP did not have the courage to make Modi resign. “It should not talk of moral authority,” he said.

The BJP charged Dr. Singh with attacking the party because he was rattled by his “abysmal failure” on the Indo-US nuclear deal. “Don’t take out your frustration on us,” the BJP spokesper¬son said.

Gujarat results may decide fate of nuclear deal

Political analysts are of the view that the Congress will be keenly looking at the results of the coming Assembly elections in Gujarat before deciding on its next move on the nuclear deal issue. Counting of votes in the Gujarat Assembly elections is to take place on Dec. 23 and the results would be available the same evening.

The Congress is leaving no stone unturned to make its mark in Gujarat and improve substantially over the 51 seats it won in the State Assembly in the last elections held in 2002. The BJP had secured 127 seats in the 182-member Assembly at that time.

The BJP is now facing the anti-incumbency factor as it has been in power for 12 years in the state. There is also a large scale rebellion in the party unit in Gujarat, with 11 MLAs as well as former Chief Minister Suresh Mehta leaving the party. But this may not be enough for a Congress victory in the state as most opinion polls conducted in the recent past have shown that Narendra Modi’s development agenda could carry him back to power. Observers say that the Congress needs to do well in some key regions, especially Saurashtra and the tribal belt.

If the Congress puts up a respectable show in Gujarat, it would be in a much stronger position to dictate a schedule for a mid-term election in the country, if it is not able to bring around the Left eventually on the nuclear deal issue. All indi¬cations are that the Left will not relent on its stand, even if the Congress wants to strike a compromise deal. A large section in the Congress believes that the UPA should go to the voters on positive issues like the development work done by the Government. Congress leaders are saying that the nuclear deal is not dead and efforts are being made to reach a consensus. The US administra¬tion has been informed that it will not be possible for the UPA to give up the Government for the sake of the nuclear deal as of now. Time has been sought from the US for resolving the domestic difficulties in the way of operationalising the 123 agreement and the new deadline appears to be Sunday, Dec, 23, when Gujarat election results would be available.

At the same time, it is apparent that if the Congress loses in Gujarat as well as in Himachal Pradesh, the other state having Assembly elections later this year, it would lose the momentum to face a Lok Sabha election.

Another complicating factor is the role being played by Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party in different states. Congress leaders believe that the BSP’s social engineering plank is going to hurt Congress prospects in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The BSP’s vote bank is similar to that of the Congress, when it was at its peak.

Difficulties in operationalising nuclear deal : PM informs Bush

At the start of the week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh informed US President George Bush on Oct. 15 that there were certain difficulties in operationalising the civilian nuclear deal. Dr. Singh came out with the explanation when President called him up on telephone. The telephonic conversation came in the backdrop of the Prime Minister’s observation the previous week that “it would be a disappointment if the deal fell through, but it was not the end of life.”

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had also said that the Congress was taking the Left parties’ views into consideration and assert¬ed that “we are not in favour of elections.”

Dr. Singh also discussed with President Bush issues relat¬ing to the Doha Round of trade talks under the World Trade Organ¬ization. He indicated that India was prepared to take the stalled talks forward but wanted the developed world to keep the vulner¬ability of the marginal farmers in mind while negotiating lower tariffs for farm produce.

“India can, by and large, live with what is on the table and has concerns only on agriculture. We will try to help in reaching a compromise,” Dr. Singh told Bush. “The Prime Minister said that he would instruct the Commerce Minister to work on these lines,” said Prime Minister’s Media Advisor Sanjaya Baru.

Mulford meets Menon

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicating that he had not given up on the nuclear deal, US Ambassador to India David Mulford met Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon On Oct. 18 to discuss the fate of the agreement.

The US envoy is believed to have sought to know what the Government is planning to do to push the deal that is being vociferously opposed by the Left. Mulford’s meeting came a day after Singh said the “process of evolving a meaningful consen¬sus” on the deal is on.

Ronen Sen to face Privileges Committee on Oct. 29

India’s Ambassador to the United States Ronen Sen will depose before the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha on Oct. 29 to account for his controversial comment describing those opposing the nuclear deal as “headless chickens.”

Sen will also make an appearance before the Privileges Committee of the Rajya Sabha. The date and time are to be con¬veyed to him shortly. The Lok Sabha Privileges Committee, chaired by Kishore Chandra Deo, has asked the Ministry of Exter¬nal Affairs to furnish all documents and letters exchanged with Sen on the issue before Oct. 29.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had referred the issue to the committee after receiving a reply from the External Af¬fairs Ministry which said Sen had expressed an unqualified apolo¬gy for the remark. The Ministry’s plea was that in view of the apology, the matter be treated as closed.

Explaining his comment after uproarious scenes in Parlia¬ment, Sen had said he had used it to refer to journalists and not MPs, while offering unconditional apology to them, nevertheless.

India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics »