Left sees red over nuke pact; Cong hopeful of breaking impasse

New Delhi, Aug 12 (UNI) Despite the government going on the offensive against the Left Parties's opposition to the 123 Agreement on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today reiterated that the Left would not allow the pact to be operationalised and any move in this regard would be opposed in Parliament.

Addressing a media conference in Thiruvananthapurm, Mr Karat cautioned that ''the Congress-led government will have to face serious political consequences, if it tried to go ahead with the deal and implement it.'' ''We will make our stand clear in Parliament and the matter will be discussed in two days,'' he added.

Replying to questions, Mr Karat said, ''The government is running with our support and the Congress has to decide on whether it wants to run the government or not.'' Mr Karat's statement came hours after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the two sides would sort out differences through dialogue and remain united against the BJP.

''We do not think that the Left outcry over the nuke deal is any threat to the UPA government. It will continue to run as unitedly as it did in the past to check the communal forces like the BJP,'' he said while speaking at a programme of a local municipality at Telenipara in Hoogly district, Kolkata.

Closing ranks with Mr Mukherjee over the stalemate, Union Minister of Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan dismissed any threat to government and struck a note of optimism, saying, ''But now that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to issue a statement in Parliament tomorrow and later hold discussions with the Left I don't see any embarrassment to the government.'' On the other hand, former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh called upon the Left to withdraw support to the government on the issue nuclear agreement or force the Prime Minister to scrap the deal.

''If you have to act, act now...If the Prime Minister cannot re-negotiate the deal, then he should terminate it. If he cannot do even this, then we will have to find a Prime Minister who will do so...The Left at this critical point has an historic role to play. I am confident it will do so,'' Mr Singh told a news conference here.

But UNPA constituent Samajwadi Party's chief Mulayam Singh Yadav termed the Left parties opposition over the issue ''eyewash'' and strongly opposed the deal.

Announcing that United National Progressive Alliance(UNPA) will hold a massive rally in New Delhi next month to protest against the deal with the US, Mr Yadav in Lucknow said the role of the Left Parties in the entire issue has been ''anti-people''.

''They should not just bark, but they should also bite,'' he said while referring to the Left's stand over the deal.

Meanwhile, the NDA has threatened to seek suspension of Question Hour in the Lok Sabha tomorrow to discuss the issue under rule 184 and announced that it would disrupt the proceedings if the demand was not met.

Notice for the discussion under rule 184 by the NDA has already reached Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra has said they are going to raise the issue as soon as the House assembles tomorrow.

Similarly, the UNPA has also demanded a discussion under Rule 184, which entails voting.

Dr Manmohan Singh will tomorrow make a suo motu statement in Parliament on the issue, which is likely to be marked by disruptions particularly from the Opposition benches, if not the Left Parties for ''some reasons''.

The Left Parties like the BJP holds the view that majority in Parliament is against the deal.

The Government will also be taken to task by the Opposition on Goa developments. The NDA is likely to raise the issue very strongly, as it feels that the manner in which the minority Kamat government was helped to retain power, keeping Goa Democratic Alliance under former chief minister Manohar parikkar out, was a clear case of ''murder of democracy'' and unethical.

Other issues which are likely to generate heat during the week in Parliament are farmer's plight, unabated rise in prices of essential commodities, floods, SEZs and FDI in retail.

UNI