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New Delhi: The communist camp seems to be in disarray over the fate of the contentious civil nuclear deal with the United States.
While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Forward Bloc have asserted that the deal is over for all practical purposes, the Communist Party of India (CPI) contends the pact is far from dead.
The confusion has arisen in view of preparations for presidential elections in the US. With the next meeting of the ruling United Progressive Alliance-Left Front panel constituted in October last year is scheduled for May 28, both the CPM and Forward Bloc are holding fast to the argument that the Bush administration is practically on its way out.
The US presidential elections are scheduled to take place on November 4 and President George W. Bush is scheduled to demit office on January 20.
Senior CPM leader Rup Chand Pal and Forward Bloc Secretary G. Devrajan yesterday sought to assert that the nuclear deal was all but dead. Only on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed hope that the India-specific safeguards agreement would be inked with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) soon.
Accusations
CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan had a wholly different view: the deal is only lying dormant.
The US administration would go to any extent to promote its vested interests through the deal, Bardhan warned.
The US would try every trick to clinch the deal before a new president was elected in November, he said. "They will change rules to see that the deal goes through to protect their business, geo-political and strategic interests."
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