Opinion | Editorials

Left in the lurch, polls are right

People's mandate is the only way to break UPA-Left deadlock on Indo-US nuclear deal.

  • Gulf News
  • Published: 23:41 June 29, 2008
  • Gulf News

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the Left parties have now reached the end of the road on the Indo-US nuclear deal. It is time for India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his allies to prepare and endorse their credentials by the people via a mandate.

The Left has always believed in tough love and their stance on the nuclear deal with the government has been unyielding. The decision to call for early polls is now Singh's way of re-emphasising his authority.

True, the polls may cost the exchequer and the Congress Party - given the rising cost of inflation - but there is no guarantee that the situation will ease up. Going ahead with the nuclear deal may not remedy price rise but it will definitely alter the view that the UPA is impotent.

Moreover, the government's foreign policy, held to ransom by communist ideologies, will lose credibility as the G8 summit approaches next month.


Opinion Editor's choice
  • Keep meddlers out of Egypt
    Egyptians must reject foreign meddling
    By Tariq Ramadan, 
Special to Gulf News

    Presidential election may turn out to be less a new chapter in a democratic future than an old chapter complete with a stage-managed outcome

  • Liberals surrender gains to Islamists
    Moderates may gift Egypt to Islamists
    By Linda S. Heard, 
Special to Gulf News

    Liberals cannot afford to sit at home or in cafes watching queues lengthen outside polling stations. They must quit complaining and vote with their feet

  • Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki
    Is Al Maliki serious about democracy and more words?
    By Mohammad Akef Jamal, 
Special to Gulf News

    He is pushing towards a military showdown with the Kurds at a time when they are stronger than ever before

Speak Your Mind

Do people make sacrifices just to make money?