With the top Congress leadership closing ranks over the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday night said India is in the process of making history by going ahead with the deal.
Another highlight of the two-hour long meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the first after the Left withdrawal of support, was an attack on the Left parties by some members and veiled criticism of the Samajwadi Party by a member.
'Deal or no deal, the Left would have withdrawn'
The apex policy making body of the party, which also heard External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, endorsed the deal and the government's decision to seek a trust vote.
Presided over by party chief Sonia Gandhi with the prime minister by her side, the meeting saw several members, including Rahul Gandhi, asserting that there was no need to be defensive on the deal.
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Sources said Dr Singh told the meeting that 'we are in the process of making history' as the deal was a unique achievement and that was why many countries, including Pakistan, have not liked it.
Even western media was going to town impressing that India has got away very easily 'without paying the price'.
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Rahul Gandhi reportedly said that the deal was in the national interest and if the government falls on the issue then it would be out of bad luck.
Sources said that Karan Singh and Saifuddin Soz were critical of the Left parties with the former accusing them of indulging in blackmail.
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Soz's target of attack was Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat. The Union Minister was a member of the UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal of which Karat was also a member.
They said at the outset, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Janardan Dwiwedi spoke of the damage to the party due to the alliances and coalitions it made. His comment was in the backdrop of the SP giving support to the coalition at the Centre when the Left has walked out.
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His contention was that tying up at the Centre with political rivals in the states harms the party because it fails to take them head on.
Another party General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai cautioned against attempts by Bahujan Samaj party's Mayawati as also Left to go in for a 'communal' campaign.
When a member said that constitutionally there was no need to take a trust vote, Mukherjee said that politically it was necessary.
"We do not want to give any opportunity to our opponents."