The CPM’s new general secretary, M.A. Baby, on Tuesday said the Left was compelled to pull out of the UPA-I government in 2008 as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “failed to honour” then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s “promise” to Left leaders that India would not sign the civil nuclear deal with the US.

Baby was speaking exclusively to The Telegraph during his first visit to the city after getting appointed to the post.

On whether the Left’s Bengal debacle was linked to the withdrawal of support from the UPA-I government, Baby said: “Once they (UPA-I) formed a strategic alliance with the US, a communist party could not support that government. This is very simple. And this we made very clear to Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson. And Sonia said, ‘Yes, we understand, we will not move.’... This was an assurance given by the supreme leader of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi.”

Baby said even though Sonia’s assurance was communicated to Singh, “he did not understand the political consequences of signing the deal”.

CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby, Left Front Chairman Biman Bose and State Secretary Md. Salim after paying tribute to Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin on his birth anniversary, in Kolkata.

Narrating the series of events before the Left withdrew support, Baby said: “Even though Sonia advised him not to go ahead, since the Leftists were opposed to it, he thought that if he carried out the agreement with the US as Prime Minister, the Left would cave in. He did not know the Leftists well. He did not want to deliberately insult the Left or Mrs Gandhi, but he had verbally committed to them (the US).

“I know it because the PM’s principal secretary, T.K.A. Nair, was a Malayali. He is still alive. You can cross-check. He had come to Kerala House to urge me to convince Prakash Karat. Manmohan thought that lobbying and explanation would do as he had verbally committed (to the US). At this, Sonia said, ‘Manmohanji what did you do? I told you that I had promised the Leftists that we would not go ahead (with the deal). Manmohanji told Soniaji that the Left would understand. Finally, when the UPA government moved, we withdrew support.”

The run-up to N-deal was marked by a continuous war of words, with the Left issuing statements to explain its objection to the 123 Agreement.

Peeved at the Left’s resistance, Singh, in an interview to this newspaper in 2007, said: “It is an honourable deal which enlarges India’s development options, particularly in regard to energy security and environmental protection, and it doesn’t in any way affect our ability to pursue our nuclear weapons programme.”

Singh had later criticised the Left for having a flawed understanding “not just of the 123 Agreement but also of India’s intrinsic strength”.

Asked about Left’s objection to the deal, Singh had said: “… they seem to have a problem with the United States.”

Baby claimed that the CPM’s objection to the 123 Agreement was “vindicated” by the world order that US President Donald Trump was trying to establish.

“We stand vindicated.... You see what Trump is doing to the world. The US wants problems everywhere in the world so that they can sell arms. The American economy survives on the arms industry...The 123 Agreement meant a strategic collaboration between India and the US. It was part of the American project to dominate the world,” Baby said.

Recalling global politics in a bipolar world, Baby said: “Remember, when Bangladesh was liberated (in 1971)... these American imperialists sent their Seventh Fleet to threaten India and Bangladesh. The Soviet Union sent their nuclear submarines from Vladivostok and halted the Americans. Otherwise, we do not know what would have happened.”

He, however, conceded that the ordinary people were unable to understand the implications of a nuke deal, which prompted the Left to withdraw support.

“We self-critically analysed the decision and concluded that the people did not understand the reason for withdrawing support. We had failed to convince them. Had it been the price rise, unemployment and some popular issues that the Manmohan Singh government was refusing to take up... that the people would have understood easily. But the civilian nuclear strategic alliance was something that the people could not comprehend. But no communist party could support a government that signed a disastrous deal with the US.”