Left wants N-deal on the backburner: Yechuri

The Communist Party of India-Marxist wants the Indo-United States nuclear deal on the backburner for completing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government its full term.

CP1-M politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechuri on Tuesday said in Guwahati, "If the Bharatiya Janata Party could ignore its three main poll planks -- construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, introduction of the Uniform Civil Code and abrogation of Article 370 -- for the sake of running the National Democratic Alliance  government, why can't the Congress put the nuclear deal on the backburner and forget George Bush for survival of the coalition."

Delivering a speech on 'Contemporary Socio-Economic and Political Situation: The Left Alternative' at a party function here, Yechuri said the nuclear deal would be against the common minimum programme (CMP) of the UPA government.

He explained that as per the nuclear deal with the US, every year the president of the US would be required to certify India's conduct as far as its external affairs policy was concerned to keep the nuclear deal alive. "It precisely means the country's foreign policy will come under the pressure of the US. This is a question of prestige of the country," he said.

On economic terms, he said the country should better invest in generating the required 40,000 MW of electricity from coal, gas, water, wind and solar energy at a much cheaper rate than opting for producing electricity from nuclear energy at a much higher cost.
He claimed that it would cost the country about Rs 30 crore per MW of electricity generated from nuclear energy and the nuclear deal would facilitate work for the US nuclear energy companies which have not received any order for the last 30 years.

"The country can produce 40,000 MW of electricity from its resources of coal, gas, water, wind and solar energy by spending about Rs 2.5 lakh crore less. It is better to utilize our precious resources in education and health sector than to help the nuclear companies in the US," Yechuri said.

He informed that the Left would ask the government to clarify its final stand on the nuclear deal in the October 22 meeting of the Left-UPA coordination committee.