NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday sought a vote of confidence in his government after his Communist allies withdrew their support in protest against a nuclear deal with the United States.
The date of the parliamentary vote will be announced today. Singh met President Pratibha Patil after the government’s former Communist allies had demanded the vote. Singh’s four-year-old government has secured the backing of the regional Samajwadi Party, but it is unclear if the ruling coalition has enough votes for a parliamentary majority.
A defeat for the government in a confidence vote would trigger an early election, probably destroying chances of the nuclear pact going ahead and sparking political uncertainty as the country struggles with record inflation and rising interest rates.
The government needs several votes from other smaller parties and must hope there is no rebellion within the ranks of the Samajwadi Party against the nuclear deal, which critics say gives the United States too much influence over India.
India’s 543-member house includes scores of small parties from dozens of ethnic groups and castes, making it unclear whether the government has the necessary support.
The nuclear pact’s approval would be a victory for Singh, giving India access to US resources and technology and moving the Asian giant’s trade and diplomatic relations closer to the West as it seeks fuel sources for a booming, trillion-dollar economy.
The ruling Congress party yesterday dismissed allegations of deceit over the India-US nuclear deal as the Left kept up its strident attack and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately prove his parliamentary majority.
Without joining hands, the BJP and Left parties separately denounced the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for taking the text of the India-specific safeguards agreement to the IAEA while denying it to people within the country.
In his second press conference in as many days, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat attacked the government for going to the IAEA. “It is shocking and a betrayal of not just the Left but the country and the people. It is a sad state of affairs. All sorts of concoctions are being put forward. We want the prime minister to answer. We will fight every step to stop this deal. We will make it impossible for the government to go ahead with the deal.”
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Advani accused the government of adopting a “deceitful attitude” over the nuclear deal and said it had lost “all credibility” by secretly taking the safeguards pact text to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear watchdog.
“We have a feeling that a conspiracy is afoot to present the nation with a fait accompli by rushing it through behind closed doors,” Advani said, after a meeting of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“This is something no government should do, least of all a minority government. The UPA has made India a laughing stock. It must seek a vote of confidence immediately.”
Still in search of numbers that would help it win a trust vote in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, the Congress party remained unfazed by the barrage of criticism.
“It is wrong to interpret the request for convening the meeting of the Board of Governors of IAEA as going to IAEA,” said Congress General Secretary M. Veerappa Moily.
“After the text of the IAEA was circulated to the members of the Board of Governors, it no more remained restricted. The government took prompt action to place the document on its website,” he said. He also asserted that the government “will go for a trust vote and then go to the IAEA”.
The government is expected to soon convene a special session of parliament to prove its majority. The monsoon session of parliament is set to start Aug. 11.
In a clear bid to embarrass the government, the Communists underlined that External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said publicly that New Delhi would first seek a trust vote and then go to the IAEA.
Mukherjee had also told Karat, the CPI-M leader said, that the text of the safeguards pact was a privileged document and could not be shared with a third party without going through the laid down procedures of IAEA.
