Business Standard

Left push for 'sense of House' on N-deal

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Our Political Bureau New Delhi
About 10 days after the Left parties' interlocutor, CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury, agreed to a compromise on the Indo-US nuclear deal and settled for a short duration discussion followed by the prime minister's statement, the Left party continues to harp on a "sense of Parliament" to define the parameters of the deal.
 
During his discussions with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, Yechury has been seeking an "assurance" that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should address the Left's specific concerns (nine points of departure from the July 2005 joint statement, as being discussed in the US Congress) and draft his statement, scheduled in the Rajya Sabha on August 17, in a way that will convey the sense of Parliament.
 
The prime minister, as also Mukherjee and Sharma, were learnt to have categorically rejected the Left's demand.
 
"Sense of Parliament can be expressed either through a resolution or through a substantive motion. We told them clearly that neither option is acceptable to us. They can do whatever they want," a Cabinet minister said.
 
Yechury was conveyed as much in his meeting with Singh and Sharma early this month. It was after the prime minister's tough talk in that meeting that the Left agreed to the compromise formula. The prime minister was learnt to have told the CPI(M) MP that if the Left parties do not believe in the prime minister's assurance, they should "better get rid of him".
 
Yechury, however, re-iterated the Left's demand for a sense of Parliament on the nuclear deal at a press briefing on Monday: "It could come through a resolution or the prime minister's statement or a statement by the presiding officers or through some other methods."
 
Government sources, however, said the Left parties were just trying to save face. "Except through a resolution or a substantive motion, there is no other way to express the sense of Parliament, whatever Yechury may claim in public.
 
How can the prime minister commit himself in Parliament to something that is still under the consideration of the US Congress!" one of the government's interlocutors told Business Standard.
 
Sources said the prime minister may "broadly" address the Left's concerns but there would be no specific commitments.

 
 

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First Published: Aug 16 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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