New Delhi: Mid-term elections are possible next year after the Left parties again rejected the Indo-US nuclear deal and demanded that the government refrain from taking the “next step” in implementing the deal.
“The Left parties reiterate their stand that in the view of widespread opposition and the fact that majority in Parliament is against (the nuclear deal) the Government should not proceed further with the agreement,” said CPI leader D Raja after a after a meeting of the CPI-M, CPI,RSP and Forward Bloc.
“This would require not taking the next step of negotiation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” he said.
The IAEA’s next meeting is in September 2008. Sources tell CNN-IBN the Left parties have decided to wait till then and withdraw support if it talks with the IAEA.
A committe to study the nuclear deal could be set up but only after the Government decides not to take the “next step”, said Raja.
The Government has already rejected suggestions that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) study the nuclear deal. “All parties have a right to give suggestions, but the Government has decided not to set up a JPC. We don't see a need for it,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi.
The Minister, however, rejected fears that the crisis would lead to mid-term polls. "The talk of mid-term elections is all useless," Dasmunsi told reporters, adding that there was neither a crisis for the government nor there was any threat to its stability.
He also rejected reports that a meeting of UPA had decided to set up a committee to study the Left’s concerns over the Hyde Act on the Indo-US agreement. "I have no knowledge about it", he said.
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