Nuclear Deal and Elections 2009: The CPIM position

The CPI-M was the most articulate party opposing the Indi-US Nuclear Deal in 2007. At that time I had put together a series of posts on the Deal and its consequences (link), and even thought that the clarity of the commies was exemplary leadership (link).


However, their 2009 Election manifesto is damp squib on the Nuclear Deal. In a scenario description part (Section I of their document) on the state of affairs today that runs to 13 pages, the Nuclear Deal is in page 8 as a built up to explaining away their withdrawal of support to the Congress government. Even in their promises, they are moderate now, their manifesto reads, 'reviewing and reworking of 123 agreement...', the kind of statement that was used by BJP during the debate on the Nuclear Deal. However, having placed the communal issue on top of the Nuclear Deal in their manifesto, they cannot join hands with the BJP to do it, so, in effect, the CPIM has all but washed its hands off as the leader of anti-Nuclear Deal. Unfortunate that the political parties seem to have even lesser memory than the public.