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Shelve pact, avoid early polls: VS

Photo: S. Gopakumar

National concern: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan addressing a public meeting organised by the LDF in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said the Congress should decide whether it should push the nation to an early election now that the Left has pointed out the inherent dangers in the proposed Indo-U.S. nuclear pact and clarified its stance on it.

Addressing a public meeting organised by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) here on Tuesday, Mr.Achuthanandan said the Congress should take a decision in the interest of the nation and shelve the pact. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were ignoring vital issues including the sovereignty of the nation while saying that those opposing the pact were against development.

By signing the pact, India would be forced to surrender its independent and anti-imperialist foreign policy to the U.S. Both Dr. Manmohan Singh and Ms. Gandhi were trying to cast an impression that nuclear power was imperative to overcome power deficit. About 55 per cent of the power needs of the country were met by coal-based projects and 25 per cent by hydroelectric projects. Moreover, the Enron experiment in Maharashtra was a case in point. The U.S. company which offered to supply power at affordable rates later raised the tariff to Rs.7 a unit.

Moreover, the Indo-U.S. pact had not figured in the agreement the ruling United Progressive Alliance had struck with the Left for its support at the Centre. While the Left was demanding that the government secure Parliament’s approval for the pact, the Congress and BJP were trying to scuttle it, he said.

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