Debunking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the row over the Indo-US nuclear deal can be amicably resolved, Left parties on Sunday night said the differences "cannot be reconciled". The Left parties added that they would take their "own good time" to decide on the issue of support to the government.
"The entire issue of support or redefining the support is a political issue. We will discuss it. We will do it at our own good time and not because of somebody's prodding or provocation," Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan told PTI.
His statement came close on the heels of CPI-M leader Prakash Karat's assertion in Thiruvananthapuram that the onus of running the coalition was on the Congress and that the prime minister is "very sensitive" on the government's relations with the US.
Talking tough, Karat said, "It is the responsibility of the Congress to see that the government does not take any policy which contradicts with the common minimum programme."
Any discussion or debate in Parliament would show that the government did not have a majority in support of the nuclear deal and the government should heed that message of Parliament, Karat said.
Asked about his earlier statement that the government would have to pay a heavy political price if it went ahead with the nuclear deal, Karat said what he had said was that the government would have to face heavy political consequences.
Concurring with Karat, Bardhan said that his party was for taking a "sense" of the House and not a vote as it would show which way the "wind is blowing" on the issue which has led to a Left-United Progressive Alliance standoff.