Congress Core Group discusses Left posture on Nuke deal

New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) Senior Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Party President Sonia Gandhi, reportedly finalised the contours of a formula that can help the 38-month-old UPA government survive the crisis caused by the intransigence of the Left Parties over the Indo-US Nuclear agreement.

The Core Group of the Congress leaders, who included Foreign Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Ms Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, met tonight at the official 7 Race Course residence of Prime Minister Singh a few hours after Ms Gandhi returned to the capital after her three-day long visit to South Africa.

In fact, Ms Gandhi cut short her four-day trip to South Africa by a day apparently due to political compulsions in the wake of the widening chasm between the UPA and the Left parties, which have been extending crucial outside support to the government.

It is learnt that the meeting had detailed discussion on the possibility of setting up a mechanism to study the implications of the US' Hyde Act, an India-specific legislation which the Left believe would impinge on the independent foreign policy and the sovereignty of the country.

The meeting assessed the magnitude of the Left threat especially in the context of meeting of the CPI(M) Central Committee (CC), the highest policy making body of the major partner of the Left.

The CC meeting yesterday did not bring any qualitative improvement on the crisis front, but the Core Committee meeting saw in CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat's remarks his party's willingness to provide the government more time and space for negotiations.

On the basis of the roadmap finalised tonight to tackle the crisis, Ms Gandhi is likely to hold talks with the leaders of the UPA constituents and also the Left in the next two days. Senior leaders of the Congress and also of the key UPA allies are also likely to attend this meeting.

The September 14 meeting of the IAEA in Vienna also figured in the Core Committee meeting in view of the stiff opposition of the Left against Indian negotiators attending it.

The mood among the Congress leaders is to buy peace with the Left before the scheduled debate on the Indo-US Nuclear deal in the Parliament so as to avoid an embarrassing situation.

It has been announced that the debate would take place in the Lok Sabha on August 29 or 30 depending on the convenience of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

UNI