Left Party Leaders Prakash Karat, Debabrata Biswas announce the withdrawal of support to the UPA Government in New Delhi.
New Delhi (PTI): The Left parties on Tuesday announced withdrawal of their support to the UPA government which appeared unfazed and declared that it will seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha during a short session this month after which it will move to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Ending their four-and-a-half year relationship with the Congress over the nuclear deal, the four Left parties with a total of 59 MPs will formally announce their withdrawal at 12 noon on wednesday when they will meet President Pratibha Patil.
The Left’s decision, though expected, set off a flurry of political maneouverings with the government, which have 230 members in the Lok Sabha without the Left, asserting that it had the required majority of at least 272, the gap being filled by 38 Samajwadi Party MPs plus support from smaller parties such as PDP.
A confident Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose announcement that India will very soon approach the IAEA for the safeguards agreement triggered Left’s break up, said the Left decision will “not affect the stability of the government”.
Singh, who is in the Japanese island of Sappro, said “we will go to the IAEA as soon as possible”.
Emerging from a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said “we will seek the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha as soon as we receive the formal communication from Rashtrapati Bhavan”.
Mukherjee said it would be a “short session” to dispose of the trust vote. Congress sources indicated that after the President’s nod, the session could be held around the third week of this month.
This will enable the Government to go to the IAEA, which has a meeting of the board of governors on July 28, for firming up the India-specific safeguards agreement with the backing of Parliament.
“Surely, we would like to seek the approval of the Board of Governors of IAEA the moment we receive the vote of confidence. That is why we would like to expedite the entire process,” he told reporters.
“Taste of the pudding is in eating,” Mukherjee said when asked whether the government had the requisite numbers to win the vote of confidence.
Senior cabinet minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar expressed confidence about winning the trust vote “any time the President desires.”
Though the SP is promising that all its MPs will back the government on the deal, first signs of revolt have surfaced with party MP from Mohanlalganj in UP, Jai Prakash claiming that over a dozen legislators would defy the party whip and vote against the government.
The Congress is keeping its fingers crossed and hoping for the backing of parties led by Ajit Singh and H D Deve Gowda to sail through the trust vote.
SP promises to vote for govt.
An earlier report said the Samajwadi Party, whose 39 MPs will have a crucial role in determining survival of the government, on Tuesday said it would vote for the government on the Indo-US nuclear deal to “save” it.
The SP announced the decision after its Parliamentary Party meeting held here to discuss its stand over the nuclear deal amid reports that some of its Muslim MPs were opposed to the atomic agreement.
“We will issue a three-line whip asking all MPs who have been elected on the Samajwadi Party symbol to vote in support of the nuclear deal and to save the UPA government,” SP General Secretary Amar Singh told reporters after the meeting.
SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav rubbished reports that Muslim MPs of the party were opposed to the nuclear deal. He later paraded them before a media contingent to prove that they were with the party on the issue.
“The nuclear deal has been welcomed by Muslims across the state including in Deoband, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Bareilly,” Yadav said.
At least 10 MPs did not attend the meeting. Among them two stayed away for “personal reasons”, three are suspended MPs, two are abroad, one in jail while another is in hospital.
Yadav termed as “figment of imagination” suggestions that the SP was in the race for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker in case incumbent Somnath Chatterjee resigns.
He also expressed hope that the Left parties will not side with the “communal forces” in Parliament when the issue of the nuclear deal comes up for discussion.
“The Indo-US nuclear deal has the backing of scientists, intellectuals and experts,” Yadav said, pointing out that the party leadership had consulted former President APJ Abdul Kalam in this regard.
Yadav made it clear that the SP will not join the UPA government. “The question does not arise,” he shot back when asked whether his party was joining the government.
He expressed hope that the Congress would make efforts to pacify Left parties, which had decided to withdraw support from the UPA government earlier in the day.
“It is the responsibility of the Congress to clear the doubts of Left parties on the nuclear deal,” Yadav said.
He said the SP was not in favour of any party leaving the ruling coalition.
“We hope that Left parties would not join communal forces and will not do anything against the government,” Yadav said.
The SP chief said 39 MPs in Lok Sabha had won the elections on the party’s symbol and claimed that “many more” are with the party.
The Parliamentary Party meeting of the SP also passed a resolution expressing complete faith in all the decisions taken by the party leadership related to nuclear deal.
“The Parliamentary Party not only decided to support the deal, but also welcomed it unanimously,” Yadav said.
During the meeting, the party leaders discussed the current political scenario and the leadership also clarified the MPs’ doubts on the deal.
“The support for the nuclear deal has also come from the six centres of Islamic learning in the state, including in Deoband and Bareli,” said Amar Singh, while reading out the resolution issued by the SP Parliamentary Party.
Left letter to Pranab – full text
Tags: CPI(M), IAEA, nuke deal, Politics, Prakash Karat
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