Left parties set deadline for UPA

New Delhi, July 5 (PTI) The Left parties, which have
decided to withdraw support the moment the government proceeds
to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal, Friday set the
deadline of July 7 for the ruling coalition to clarify whether
it was going to the I.A.E.A.

"We wish to know definitely whether the government is
proceeding to seek the approval of the safeguards agreement by
the Board of Governors of the I.A.E.A.," a letter by the four
Left parties to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee
said.

"Please let us know the position by July seven," the
letter signed by the general secretaries of C.P.I.-M, C.P.I.,
R.S.P. and Foward Bloc said after an hour-long meeting here.

They also decided to meet again on July 8 to consider the
government's response to their letter, if any, and decide on
the next step.

In the letter, they pointed out that various
pronouncements were being made by leaders of the ruling
coalition and some union ministers that the government is
going ahead with the deal.

The letter was released to the media by C.P.I.(M) General
Secretary Prakash Karat in the presence of A.B. Bardhan
(C.P.I.), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc) and T J
Chandrachoodan (RSP).

The parties also decided to launch a national campaign to
explain to the people the reasons for their opposition to the
nuclear deal. The campaign will also focus on government's
"refusal" to take appropriate steps to tackle the runaway
inflation, back-breaking price rise and "anti-people"
policies of U.P.A.

"The second decision that the Left parties have taken is
to launch a national campaign from July 14 and in this
campaign we shall explain to the people our position on the
nuclear deal," Karat said. (more) PTI SJY