Cong asks PM to go slow on Nuclear Liability Bill

The one message that the Congress party wants the Prime Minister's Office to take heed of, following the tumultuous first phase of this year's Budget session, is that the PMO should be more helpful in facilitating political management for the party.

According to top party sources, a clear message has already been conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that there was no need to rush the Civil Nuclear Liabilities Bill in the Lok Sabha. The PM has been reminded by the party that his officials need to understand parliamentary compulsions and the fact that the Parliament has its own writ.

Despite the government bending over backwards to explain that the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages bill was a mandatory legislation -- no matter which country India wanted to engage with in nuclear commerce -- the party appears to be unconvinced.

Questions  are being  raised among the Congress brass why the government needs to make overtures to the United States through the bill when the US  did not show enough concern for India after the 26/11 terror attack.

"Even after the 26/11 terror attack, where Pakistani handlers masterminded and controlled the entire attack, the US has not stopped its supply of sophisticated weapons to the Pak army. It is also pressurising New Delhi to restart the composite dialogue process with Pakistan. In this situation, why do we need to pander to the US by pushing the Civil Nuclear Liability bill?" asked a senior Congress leader.

Government managers, however, vehemently denied allegations that the Manmohan Singh government brought this bill under US pressure. Minister of State (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan said Russian and French companies have also indicated that without a liability cap on the operator, it would be very difficult for them to do business with Nuclear Power Corporation of India to build reactors.

Dr Singh is expected to go to the US in mid-April. On Monday, the government had planned to table the Nuclear Liabilities Bill in Lok Sabha but stiff resistance from opposition parties finally forced the government to withdraw the bill.

After the major embarrassment, there has been a debate within the functionaries of the government on whether it was the correct move to try and table such an important bill on Monday -- when several MPs were absent. Most of them had failed to return following their weekend visits to their respective constituencies. While some tried to find flaw in the tactics of the United Progresive Alliance floor managers, others pointed out that the PMO was in a hurry to see the bill passed in the Parliament.

After the Sharm-al-Sheikh episode, where India allowed Pakistan to mention its concerns over Balochistan for the first time in a joint statement, a section of the party feels the PM should move more cautiously on  issues related to the US and Pakistan.

The PM will get two opportunities to meet his Pakistani counterpart -- in the US and then again at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Bhutan in April. But the  party brass feels there should not be any summit meetings involving the two PMs in either of these venues. "Secretary-level talks have just resumed. Let this continue for some time and then we can decide on the next level of dialogues with Pakistan," says a leader

The party managers are also blaming the PMO for spoiling the well-planned tactics to split the opposition unity over the women's bill. The introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill had shattered the opposition unity. With the BJP and the Left joining hands with the Congress-led government to pass the bill, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janta Dal and Janata Dal (United) were completely sidelined.

Soon after, the Nuclear Liability Bill, however, provided an opportunity to the opposition to set aside their differences and attack the government unitedly. "Whatever we had achieved through the Women's Bill was ruined by the Nuclear Liability Bill," said a senior leader of the Congress.