Govt must not operationalise nuke-deal: CPM

New Delhi, Aug 27: The CPI(M) today made it unequivocally clear to the UPA Government not to operationalise the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal or be prepared to face the consequences.

''If the government decides to operationalise the deal, the responsibility of its future will lie with the government,'' CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said at a news conference at the conclusion of the party's two-day Central Committee meeting.

At the same time, Mr Karat said the Central Committee did not want the current crisis to continue. But it was contingent upon the government not to go ahead with the deal, he added.

He said the Central Committee had authorised the party's Polit Bureau to take necessary steps with regard to blocking the deal.

The CPI(M), along with other Left parties, would organise joint campaigns across the country from September 4 to 8 against the deal as well as the proposed Malabar Naval exercises next month by India, the United States, Australia, Japan and Singapore. The CPI(M) would continue the protests until September 15.

Asked if the CPI(M) had discussed the possibility of a mid-term poll, Mr Karat said, ''We have not discussed the elections.'' On whether he saw the possibility of the government being reduced to a minority, he said, ''This government is there because of our support...if our support is not there, how will it function.''

On whether the Left parties were ready to sort out the differences with the government on the deal, Mr Karat said ''we are prepared to consider any mechanism or committee to look into it provided the government does not take the next step.'' When it was pointed out to him that the deal had also figured during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's talks with his Japanese counterpart yesterday, he said ''We don't expect him not to discuss that.'' Mr Karat said the CPI(M) was waiting for the government's response to the concerns expressed by his party.

UNI