Karat: Battle on

New Delhi, July 28: Prakash Karat goaded the Left today into exploring other ways of getting the House to speak its mind on the nuclear deal, with chances of a parliamentary resolution receding.

The CPM general secretary told his Left Front partners at a meeting that there could be no question of backing down. He expressed displeasure over CPI member Gurudas Das Gupta’s statement yesterday that the CPI would not be party to a joint resolution with the BJP.

Karat argued that the “sense” of Parliament could not be expressed unless all parties agreed to a statement. This means the BJP must be part of the process.

The CPM chief said the Centre must lay down the parameters within which the nuclear deal would be negotiated. In a joint statement after the meeting, the Left parties ruled out accepting a suo motu statement by the Prime Minister, though Das Gupta had suggested on Thursday that this might be enough.

“(We) urge the government to realise this is an issue of national importance and the opinion of Parliament needs to be clearly spelt out now. This cannot be done simply through a suo motu statement,” the statement said.

The form in which Parliament will express its “sense”, however, is yet to be decided.

One way could be to have the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairperson move a statement laying down guidelines for the negotiations that would be adopted by both Houses.

Another is to table a notice for a discussion in both Houses. The Prime Minister would then respond to the discussion with a statement incorporating the Left’s point of view.

The first option would, of course, be more binding on the government. A final decision will be reached after talks with the Congress, which are likely to feature a clash over the wording, whichever option is adopted.

Congress sources argued that a statement from the Prime Minister must reflect his views, which raises some doubt over how far the government would be willing to accommodate the Left’s position. The allies, too, want a say in drafting the statement.

The Left wants the matter clinched in the monsoon session of Parliament. “It can’t wait till the legislation is finally adopted in the US Congress,” a Left leader said.