<b>N-deal</b>: Govt will pay 'political price' says CPI

The CPI today threw its weight behind the ultimatum given to the government by the CPI-M not to implement the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying the UPA would have to pay a major "political price" if it went ahead with the pact.

"They (UPA) will have to pay a big political price if they are not ready to reconcile with us on the nuclear issue. The Left had its final meeting with the prime minsiter on the issue yesterday," A B Bardhan, general secretary, CPI told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

"What we are saying is do not operationalise this deal. Don't take the first step at all," he said categorically.

Asserting that the nuclear deal should be debated in Parliament, he said, "If the matter is discussed openly in Parliament, then the Congress will realise that they do not have majority support on the issue."

The Left parties will hold a meeting on the issue tomorrow and "something concrete will emerge from it", the senior Communist leader said.

"Sarkar ko yeh baat soch kar, samajh kar amal karna chahiye (The UPA government should think things over before taking a decision on the issue)," Bardhan said.

Asked about the components of the draft 123 agreement that the Left objected to, Bardhan said, "The main irritant will be subordinating all our foreign policies and economic issues to American policy.

"Out of this exercise, what we will get is just 20,000 MW of power and that too by 2020. For this, we cannot compromise the country's sovereignty and foreign policy."