Support to the govt should not be taken for granted: CPI

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the crucial meeting of UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI said on Tuesday its support to the government should not be taken for granted and it will not 'compromise' on its stand that the agreement should not be operationalised.
    
Referring to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's remarks in New York that there was no cause of 'alarm' on the deal, CPI National Secretary D Raja said the Congress leader was silent on the way to resolve the differences on the issue.
    
"She has said there are differences on the nuclear deal. But she did not say the way forward (to sort out the differences). I make it clear they cannot take our support for granted," the CPI leader said, while addressing a gathering of farmers organised by Janmorcha at Rajghat, the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi, here.
    
"The deal cannot be implemented. This should be put on hold. We do not want any compromise on it," Raja said.
    
He said nuclear energy contributed only 2.8 per cent of the total energy generated in the country. Energy generation can be augmented by hydel and thermal power.
 
Finance Minister P Chidambaram "does not speak about hydel and thermal power".
   
"This deal is meant for creating a market for the US," he said, adding "Mahatma Gandhi had talked about self-reliance. Today we should think about being self-reliance in energy generation also."
 
Janmorcha leader and former Prime Minister V P Singh also criticised the nuclear deal, saying the "Hyde Act would be binding on us after the deal is implemented".
  
"The government at one time was supporting the Iran pipeline project. Now after US pressure, there is no development on that also," he said.