Life line to UPA

The suspense about the survival of the Congress-led UPA government appeared to have ended with Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh of the Samajwadi party publicly endorsing the government move on the Indo-US nuclear deal after seeking clarification on the deal from the ex-President and noted scientist Dr. APJ Kalam. The Left led by Prakash Karat, stunned by the U turn of the Samajwadi Party, issued a letter to the government giving a deadline of 7th July to indicate the government time frame to approach the IAEA so that formal parting with the UPA could be operationalised,so to speak.The Left’s anti US phobia made it blind to the benefit India would derive on signing the 123 agreement which would end India’s nuclear isolation and allow trading with 45-country nuclear supplier group(NSG) for Uranium to run the idle power plants. This is a historic blunder like the one committed earlier when the politbureau refused to allow the veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu to become the Prime Minister of India. The Left leaders, most of whom had not contested election in their life time like Prakash Karat,Sitararn Yechury,Brinda Karat would not care for the consequences of their action, particularly in West Bengal where ground beneath the Left had been eroding as evident from the results of the local body elections.Dr Manmohan Singh,Prirne Minister frequently dubbed as the weakest Prime Minister by Prime Minister aspirant L.K.Advani of the BJP must be having the last laugh. He proved to the nation that he could be tough when the situation so demanded and the Indo-US nuclear deal arranged after prolonged negotiation with safeguard to national interest could not be sacrificed at the insistence of the Left parties-a millstone that had to be got rid of. He could now go the G-8 summit in Japan with his head held high and move IAEA in mid July and expect to complete all formalities before September to meet the US dead line. The Indo-US nuclear deal would be one of the lasting legacies of the Congress led UPA government plagued by price rise and high inflation before it goes to next Lok Sabha election. The new found friendship between Congress and the Samajwadi Party ending long standing animosity might have given temporary reprieve to the UPA government but how long lasting it would be? Amar Singh in a television interview admitted that they committed a blunder in not extending support to Sonia Gandhi in 1999 to form the Government. The Samajwadi Party leaders would now demand a pound of flesh for their support. Already they have raised their voices against two central Ministers, Murli Deora for rise in petroleum prices and Chidambaram for failure to control inflation. Besides.Mulayam Singh has a disproportionate assets case pending against him. He would expect the Central government to go slow in the case. The Congress- Samajwadi Party alliance proves the adage that in politics there were no permanent foes. source: assam tribune