Left leaders continue deliberations on nuke deal

Left parties today continued deliberations on the stand-off with the government over the Indo-US nuclear deal with CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat meeting his CPI counterpart A B Bardhan, who said it was up to the government to decide whether to commit "sati" on the issue.

Karat met Bardhan and CPI National Secretary D Raja and briefed them about his party Central Committee's endorsement of the Politburo decision that the government should not operationalise the deal failing which it would face "serious consequences."

The two leaders are understood to have also discussed the response they have received so far from the Manmohan Singh government as well as the Congress party. They also reviewed their plans to hold two jathas (processions) in the first week of September to oppose the joint naval exercises with the US.

Making it clear that the Left was not prepared to back down on the issue, Bardhan said it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to continue or commit sati on the issue.

"It has to take a decision on the nuclear deal. If the government is bent on falling then who can stop it," he told NDTV.

"If it (deal) has to be scrapped then it should be done. Otherwise, we are only telling the government that it should not take the next step. The next step is IAEA, then NSG and the third one is the ratification in the American Congress," he said.

He said even in America the deal needs ratification and here the situation is that it does not need the ratification. "It can't be like that. We are a very big democracy.