Instead of airing views, pro and against the deal, seperately from different sources, media should bring these diverse groups including political parties onto single platform and get a consensus.
As of now, it looks like every media outlet is filling its paper and TV coverage by airing and printing every dick and harry’s opinions which are half baked and also ill-infomed. They are only creating confusions in the minds of people rather than making it clear as we proceed towards trust vote.
Left parties: Left has unsuccessfully tried to give a communal angle to the deal and failed in it.
While opposing the deal, it has made sure that BJP even in the remotest possibility does not inch closer to UPA by constantly saying that the main reason for its support to UPA was to keep Saffron parties away from power. However, it is not able to clean itself of being away from BJP, when it comes to voting against the UPA in trust vote.
Left has also wasted lot of time in blackmailing the UPA government on this deal for every silly reason, when its main opposition was the strategic alliance with USA.
Complains of Left: Left’s complain that UPA has deviated from a CMP (common minimum programme) is untenable. A big country such has India with Billion people cannot stick to CMP compiled 4 years ago. World we live in is fast changing and we have to adhere to changing dynamics of the world. Clean energy, global pollution have attracted huge attention like never before. There is cent percent probability of imposing boycott of goods by west produced by technology that may result in global pollution. India needs to make sure that it is ready in the event such a scenario becomes reality. We need to diversify our energy resources and nuclear energy in one such option among others.
Left’s concern that we may not get reliable supply of Uranium is also untenable. Uranium’s supply concerns don’t change with or without us signing the deal. Australia is the biggest supplier of Uranium and they won’t mind supplying to us, when it is a win-win proposition for them. Supply of Uranium should be left to market forces and is not a foreign policy tool of United States or Australia. It is too childish to think in such narrow terms.
BJP: People will never forgive BJP for its U-turn on nuclear deal. I had very little love for BJP before which is replaced with hatred. It will be very interesting to see, how they will fare in elections and how they will take forward the deal, if they happen to run the government.
It will also depend on how US congress will take this matter under a new dispensation in 2009.
BJP has lost a very impirtant chance to show that it is commited to do business with congress when it comes to Strategic initiatives such as Nuclear deal. Instead of towing UPA line and taking the credit for initiating the nuclear deal, they opposed the deal in totality and wiped their names of this very important deal crucial for India’s survival for decades to come.
Congress: Congress is also to be balmed for this fiasco. They should have been inclussive when it comes to the nuclear deal. They should have consulted BJP from beginning and taken them into confidence. Instead they very carefully left out BJP and left parties and tried to take a political mileage out of it. Even in making the draft text public, they made sure that both BJP and Left were cornered in their opposition and only then they made it public.
BJP and Left have gobe too far in opposing the deal and are clearly the loosers. They have a very big jon in front of them to explain to the people, why they opposed. Taking potshots or famous one liners when it comes to important deal like this one will not help. They have to very vividly explain in layman terms why the deal cut by UPA was against the interests of India. The draft text is out and eminient people have sided with UPA and under these circumstances it will be very difficult to explain otherwise.
I see more troubles for BJP going forward and Left is definitely in soup already. I won’t be surprised if they loose their deposits in the next elections.
July 22nd trust vote: There is a possibility of TDP siding with UPA or even a possibility of split in TPD. Breakaway TRS members may also side with UPA along with few MPs from Left and BJP.
There is wae of unhappiness in the camps of BJP and Left which may ultimately help UPA win the trust vote.
