Concerns on N-deal not addressed: CPM

After party leader Prakash Karat's stinging indictment of the government on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and the directive that the UPA must immediately stop all negotiations, the CPI(M) today said the concerns raised by it on the Indo-US nuclear deal had not been properly addressed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his statement to Parliament.

Stating that a debate on the matter was scheduled in the Lok Sabha on Monday to which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would reply, party leaders Rupchand Pal and Basudeb Acharia said, "We want to hear the PM."

Meanwhile, that taunts by the Left parties were irritating the Congress was no longer a secret as in the Lok Sabha at least two Congress MPs took on the Left parties and challenged them to withdraw support from the government if they were "so opposed" to its policies.

Party whip in Lok Sabha Madhusudan Mistry lost his temper in the House yesterday and told the Left to withdraw support to the government if it was so opposed to the government's policies. It was brief moment of anger, but it showed that the Congress too was getting restive at repeated attacks by the Left.

Today the Left was a little more moderate in its stance and expressed the hope that the PM would address all concerns of the Left and the scientific community.

Rupchand Pal said, "We have pointed out that our concerns have not been properly addressed by the external affairs minister."

While the special discussion on the nuclear issue would be held on Monday, debate on the Approach Paper to the Eleventh Plan would be held on Tuesday, the last day of this session.