The Communist Party of India-Marxist has dared the Congress to face elections on the nuclear deal plank, saying they were confident that people would reject the latter's stand as the government was "isolated" on the issue.
The party said the Left parties would work to ensure that the deal does not get operationalised during the "life of Manmohan Singh government".
"It is not we but the government which is isolated on this issue. The discussion in Parliament in November-December 2007, in both the Houses, showed that it is in minority on this issue," CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said in an interview to party mouthpiece People's Democracy.
He said it was the consistent opposition of the strategic alliance with the US and the nuclear deal by the Left that has brought out the "dangers" of these moves into mainstream discussion.
Asked whether he thinks that the deal will go through, the top CPI-M leader said, "We will fight at every stage to ensure that it will not get operationalised."
"Why was the government keeping the text secret? This is the habit of the Congress whenever it is in government. In 1991 when Dr Singh was finance minister, the government made an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion. When we asked them what conditions have been accepted, they refused to divulge the text. It was the CPI-M, which procured the document from Washington and published the full text."
On the current political scenario, Karat said the United Progressive Alliance government has "lost legitimacy" after the support withdrawal by the Left.
"Our stand, irrespective of what others do, is that the Left will vote against the government for their betrayal of national interests," he said.
