The meeting is scheduled in the evening of 28 May, at External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's residence.
Although the informal discussions in the Congress to analyse the Karnataka defeat have started, party's top leadership is yet to meet formally over the issue. Congress may hold an internal discussion on Karnataka before the party takes on the Left on the nuclear issue.
The Congress feels that it was a 'political necessity' for the party to win the Karnataka elections. It could have given the UPA, among other things, an upper hand against the Left which has suffered a major blow in the panchayat elections in West Bengal. The opposition has won four districts, including areas of Singur and Nandigram in the panchayat polls.
There are other reasons as well for a possible postponement. Defence Minister A K Antony is currently in Germany to attend a four-day long military exhibition. From the Left, All India Forward Block General Secretary Debabrat Biswas has already conveyed to the committee that he won't be able to attend any meeting on 28 May as he is pre-occupied with party work. In this context a top UPA minister told Business Standard, "The meeting may get postponed as some members will find it difficult to be in Delhi on 28 May." The committee consists of 15 members with nine from UPA and six members from the Left.
However, the Left hasn't been formally informed about any postponement yet. Sitaram Yechuri told Business Standard, "We have heard that External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony have other engagements on that day. But officially we haven't been informed about any change of the dates of the meeting."
The four Left parties held their own meeting on 23 May to discuss their collective stand on the nuclear deal. In a bid to show its resistance to the nuclear deal, the Left led by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, has now raised the issue of shortage of domestic uranium. Karat has also charged the government for not harnessing the uranium capacities properly.
