'It is not lack of guts, but we are being reasonable'

The Left parties, which met in New Delhi on Friday, said they "would not do anything" till Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh came back from the G-8 summit in Japan next week.

 "It is not lack of guts, but we are being reasonable," CPI's D Raja told  rediff.com after the meeting. It is learnt that the parties had been told by the government that International Atomic Energy Agency director would not participate in the deliberations.

"The Left parties have decided to launch an all-India campaign from July 14 to go to the people, explaining our opposition to the deal,' the Left said in a statement.

The Left also threatened to expose the BJP's efforts to create a communnal wedge to secure political and electoral gains.

The Left parties have set July 7 deadline to know from the government whether it is going ahead to seek the IAEA approval for safeguards agreement.
 The following is the text of the letter sent by the Left parties to the government.

Dear Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Convenor, UPA-Left Committee on Nuclear Issue, Various pronouncements are being made by leaders of the ruling coalition and some Union Ministers that the Government is going ahead with the nuclear deal.

We wish to know definitely whether the Government is proceeding to seek the approval of the safeguards agreement by the Board of Governors of the IAEA.

Please let us know the position by 7th July, 2008.

The letter has been signed by  Prakash Karat of the Communist Party of India-Marxist,  A B Bardhan of the Communist Party of India, Debabrata Biswas of the Forward Bloc and  T J Chandrachoodan of the Revolutionary Socialist Party.