Click to play videoKolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattcharjee articulated the pragmatic Bengal line – the state needs clean energy and that could well be nuclear.
Highlighting the disconnect between AKG Bhavan and Alimuddin Street, Bhattacharjee said, “You cannot avoid nuclear power. All these issues need to be considered before going ahead but one cannot avoid nuclear power.”
The Chief Minister’s remarks come days after the Left in Delhi argued in its draft to the Government that nuclear energy is not cost effective - an argument they are expected to take forward when they meet with the UPA on September 19.
Bhattacharjee’s comments aren’t entirely unexpected. The CM has been maintaining a discreet silence on the Indo-US nuclear deal. He is the party insider whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached out to when the Left was threatening to withdraw support.
In fact, during the Left's show of strength at the Bay of Bengal jathas, Bhattacharjee was conspicuous by his absence. He has also encouraged Bengal leaders to say that there was no threat to the Government.
But Bhattacharjee’s statement has ruffled a few feathers in the Left front.
“If the Left thinks it is undesirable how can Bhattacharjee, a politburo member say otherwise,” leader of Revolutionary Socialist Party, Abani Roy said.
Meanwhile, the Government is hoping to win this race with Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar spending this week at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and sources say he could discuss all issues concerning India, including the safeguards agreement.
Simultaneously, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is in Beijing seeking to confirm that China will not oppose India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group while External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is doing the same in Seoul after some objections were raised.
The UPA and Left are going through the motions in the nuclear panel meetings in Delhi but it appears that the Government's Track II with the pragmatists in the party are yielding better results.
(With inputs from Smita Nair and Surya Gangadharan)
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