New Delhi: The UPA Government must end talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Indo-US nuclear deal by December or get ready for mid-term polls, the CPM has said.
"When they (officials) come back from talks with IAEA, we will tell them (the government) there is no need to go ahead (with the deal). The issue must be resolved by end of December. If they still go ahead, then we will have to be prepared for Lok Sabha mid-term polls," said CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat at party’s Delhi unit meeting on .
In perhaps the clearest threat with a definite deadline, Karat made his remarks even as a team of Indian officials left for Vienna to resume their second round of talks with IAEA for India-specific safeguards from tomorrow.
The first round of talks was held after the Left parties allowed the government to carry on negotiations with IAEA with the condition that no agreement will be signed but would be brought back for the UPA-Left committee to go through.
Karat said the Left parties did not want the government to fall before Gujarat assembly elections lest the BJP benefited from it.
"You may not be worried but we are. We don't want the BJP to win the polls. We have to defeat the Modi government so we don't want to disturb the situation now," he said.
The Left parties have been warning the government not to go ahead with the deal but the prime minister has expressed hopes that the opponents of nuclear deal could be persuaded to accept it.
The Congress has given a guarded reaction to that Left ultimatum. “Whatever is taking place is happening as per the previous engagement, nothing has changed and everything is as per what was stated,” says Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress Spokesperson.
After the debate on the nuclear deal in the recently ended Parliament session, the opposition BJP and Left parties and the SP had asked the government not to go ahead with the deal.
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