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Chuck de: CPM ready for anything
Party Central Committee likely to set deadline for Manmohan govt
R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 21
The highest decision-making body of the CPM, the Central Committee, is meeting in the capital tomorrow to discuss the nuclear deal and also the outside support being extended to the Manmohan Singh government.

The two-day meet of the Central Committee is expected to draw out the roadmap for the party to take in the coming weeks and it is unlikely that Left parties would lower their stakes in the nuclear issue, as it involves their ideology itself.

The party is expected to set some sort of deadline for the Manmohan Singh government to act on putting the nuke deal on hold. It would also discuss the party’s electoral prospects in case of snap polls or evolve a strategy for the government to function for a couple of months as a minority coalition.

With the Congress today indicating that the government would go ahead with the negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) next month is expected to add fodder to the CPM’s hardline approach.

The ruling party’s public stand came within hours of the external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee securing a concession from the Left parties that India would send its representative to the IAEA for the General Council meeting next month.

The Central Committee would also finalise the party’s strategy to oppose the Indo-US joint naval exercises scheduled to begin off the coast of Visakhapatnam early next month.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, after a meeting with Mukherjee, said the Left was not against India attending the Vienna meeting as a member country of the IAEA, but in no case should it discuss the safeguards agreement. Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar would be attending the meeting in mid-September. Yechury said his party had no objection to India attending the meeting like it attends UNICEF and UNESCO meetings.

"But do not go ahead with negotiations on India-specific safeguards," he said adding; "He (Kakodkar) should not negotiate".

Asked whether any progress has been made on finalising a mechanism to address the Left concerns, he said the government has spoken about it and “we have told them you do it, we will consider”.

The CPM has said there were certain serious objections to the Hyde Act and unless those concerns were evaluated, government should not go ahead with operationalising the deal, Yechury said reiterating his party's stand.

Making light of a suggestion that the Left was opposing the nuclear deal to help China and Pakistan, he said, “Why should I react (to the suggestion)? I am for my country's sovereignty and I am reacting only for India and the Indian people.”

Besides Yechury and Mukherjee, information and broadcasting minister P.R. Dasmunsi and CPM leader in Lok Sabha, Basudeb Acharia, also attended the meeting.

Halt nuke deal: Karat
Ramesh Kandula
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, August 21
The CPM today held out a stern warning to the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, saying Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy would be dislodged from power if he fails to meet the demands of the Left on land distribution to the poor.

“We will intensify the land struggle till the government bows down to our demands. Otherwise, Reddy cannot continue as Chief Minister,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said. He was addressing a public meeting at Mudigonda in Khammam district, scene of brutal police firing last month that claimed seven lives.

Accusing the Congress government of unleashing repression on the Left-sponsored land movement, he said: “We will go to jail but we will not allow our movement to be suppressed.”

The main demands of Left parties are constitution of an independent, state-level commission with judicial powers to oversee distribution of lands to the poor, regularisation of encroachments by the poor and stopping the transfer of assigned lands to private companies.

Meanwhile, Karat also put the UPA government on notice on the Indo-US nuclear deal saying it “should decide within a few weeks whether to go with the USA or firmly remain with the people of India”.

“We are opposed to the growing influence of American imperialism on India. We have asked the government not to go ahead with operationalising the agreement,” he said.

Alleging that the USA was asking India to change its foreign policy and trying to impose its will through the nuclear agreement, he said: “It is a tragedy that the Congress government is compromising on the non-alignment policy enunciated during the Nehru days.”

Pointing out that the Manmohan Singh government was yet to respond to the Left’s demand that the 123 agreement should not be operationalised, Karat said: “Whatever may be the response, we will not compromise in our struggle against American imperialism.”