"Nuclear deal was not an issue in which our withdrawal from UPA was understood by the people," CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury told NDTV
Sitaram Yechury, the new head of the CPI (M), has for the first time admitted that the party should have found a more people-friendly reason than the Indo-US nuclear deal to withdraw support to Dr Manmohan Singh's government in 2008.
Speaking to NDTV, Mr Yechury, who was elected General Secretary of the CPI(M) late last month, said that the party should have chosen an issue like escalating prices to end its support to the government. "In retrospect, we said the nuclear deal was not an issue in which our withdrawal was understood by the people, nor could we make them understand it," he said in an interview that will air tonight at 9 pm (IST) on NDTV 24X7 (live stream on ndtv.com).
"Many issues were agitating the people like the huge price rise that had begun to take place," Mr Yechury said. "Issues like that - unfulfilled promises - those were the issues on which a withdrawal would have been more acceptable to the people.
Mr Yechury clarified that his party's opposition to the nuclear deal remained unchanged, blaming the Congress for "jettisoning" the agreement by pushing ahead with a deal he said had not been a part of the agreed-upon Common Minimum Programme for the coalition.
In 2008, Dr Manmohan Singh staked his career as Prime Minister by signing a civil nuclear pact with US President George Bush that would give India access to nuclear fuel and technology. After the Left pulled out, Dr Singh was forced to take a trust vote, which he won by just 19 votes.
Many see the deal as Dr Singh's crowning achievement because it made India a de facto nuclear power despite not signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty and conducting nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998. But the Left said the deal was heavily tilted in favour of the US, and objected to the government's decision to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency to discuss India-specific safeguards.