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India govt in crisis: Singh to quit if US N-pact is scrapped
By Ravi S. JhaNEW DELHI Indias 40-month old United Progressive Alliance government is in turmoil. The government is likely to fall, much ahead of its full five-year term in April 2009 with its key ally, the Communists, putting the Congress-led UPA on ultimatum over the India-US nuclear deal. Political parties yesterday called for fresh parliamentary elections even though frantic attempts are being made to save the coalition from its untimely perish. However, if the UPA government tactfully manages to save its rule, they will have to let go the nuclear deal with the US forever. This could mean an end to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singhs tenure with the UPA government as well. Under the aegis of its chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the UPA is likely to look for a change of prime minister, sources close to Sonia Gandhi said yesterday. Besides, it is said Dr Singh has unwittingly triggered the present crisis. Dr Singh may have been advised poorly on how to handle his political allies by mentors, but if the deal is scrapped then he would be in an embarrassing position to tell Washington that the much sought-after Indo-US pact is dead. If the the communists the Left parties having 59 seats in Parliament withdraw support, the government would fall with the country going for fresh polls. The Congress high command is of the view that scrapping of nuclear deal would mean key modification in Indias foreign policy objectives, and to placate the Left, Dr Singh may offer to quit. Congress sources said Dr Singh did offer to resign once, but Sonia Gandhi along with UPAs non-Left allies are keen that the decision on this be taken as a last resort. Congress is looking to find a middle ground with the four Left parties the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc but to no avail so far. Dr Singh, a pro-economic reforms veteran, has never been a favourite of the Left parties for obvious reasons. Dr Singh also propagated a pro-US foreign policy very much on the lines of his Congress party that kicked off such a strategy of opening to the West way back during the pre-reform years of the then prime minister Narasimha Rao. Dr Singh recently said that the nuclear deal was not renegotiable under any circumstances. Peeved by the manner the Left parties issued political diktats to his government even when supporting the regime from outside, he dared them to withdraw support. Now if the government does decide to scrap the deal, he would have to give up his job, it is believed. Dr Singh is supposed to be a political prime minister having experience in executive more than in politics. It is said if the Left parties are made to conciliate by the Congress to save the government then Dr Singhs authority will be in question. Dr Singh has stood up with grit for the nuclear deal saying it is in the interest of the nation. His angry outburst against the aggravated communists telling them to take-it-or-leave-it has cast a shadow on his political image, if not his capable administrative skills as an honest and refined economist. If he resigns, the Congress may find it difficult to convince the world its global standing of being pro-reforms, if he stays with nuclear deal being intact then it could be worse. Posted by: Steve White 2007-08-20 |
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