It’s now or never

The Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement is once again facing stiff opposition from the Left parties. The latter appear to be determined to bring down this government if the UPA goes ahead with the negotiations in the IAEA. The UPA and the Congress are engaged in an exercise to somehow break the deadlock and are giving an opportunity to the Left to once again revise its stand.

In fact, the Congress has its options running out. If it succumbs to the Left pressure and abandons the deal that it construes to be in the overall interest of the country, it will be seen as a party that compromised on its beliefs just to remain in power for a few more months. Sonia Gandhi's sacrifice of shunning power when it was offered to her on a platter after the 2004 verdict will go in vain and the Congress shall be seen as party of power-hungry individuals who did not care for the principles and for the future of this country.

It is true that by postponing the decision to go along with the deal, the threat to the government may go but the political consequences of not signing the deal will be far greater than those of going ahead with it. The Left is a temporary ally since the 2004 elections were contested on an anti-communal plank. But the past record of the Left, particularly the CPI(M) shows that it has explained its flirtations with the BJP (Jana Sangh) in 1967, 1977 and 1989 in terms convenient to it.

Ideology had little to do with its decision to oppose Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 when it joined hands with the BJP to support the VP Singh government. It has been in the forefront of an exercise to launch a third alternative at the center despite having the best of both the worlds while supporting the UPA since 2004. Its leaders are heading important parliamentary committees and are busy appropriating political space once occupied by the Congress asthe voice of the weaker sections and poor in this country.

It is a common sight to see Left leaders like AB Bardhan using the strongest language on the TV while ridiculing or criticising the government given that the CPI has a handful of MPs in Parliament. The CPI(M), too, has been sometimes looking most unreasonable when somebody as articulate as Prakash Karat launches an attack on the ruling combination for some of the problems that cannot be addressed by coalition governments. The Congress and the UPA have shown a lot of patience in keeping quiet about what appears to be unfair criticism at times aimed at giving the Left parties undue political dividends.

Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
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