N-Liability Bill: Go-slow advice from Congress to Govt

The Manmohan Singh’s government is working hard to gather support for the Nuclear Liability Bill as it is anxious to get the legislation passed in the Budget session of Parliament. The advice from the Congress leadership to government leaders, however, was not to rush ahead on the controversial bill without making an effort to bring everyone on board.

The Congress advice to go slow on the bill was conveyed to the government after it ran into strong Opposition resistance in both Houses. This virtually means that the bill, notwithstanding hard work by government functionaries, could be headed for the standing committee. The Opposition alleges the legislation will help American nuclear reactor manufacturers.

The insistence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on signing the civilian nuclear deal with the US, despite the Left and the BJP opposing it, nearly risked the stability of the UPA government during its first term, while facing a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha. It was thanks to the now estranged Samajwadi and Rashtriya Janata Dal parties, that the government survived. At that time, there was speculation that the PM was even ready to resign on a prestige issue, if the Congress did not back him.

Now, the regional parties along with the Left parties and the BJP are on the opposite camp, giving anxious moments to the Congress. Last week's absence from the Lok Sabha of 35 Congress members, including ministers, when the Nuclear Liability Bill was being introduced was seen as a warning signal. It had to be deferred by an embarrassed government.

The lack of coordination between the party and government was also evident during the Egypt Sharm-e-Sheikh joint statement fiasco last year, when bad drafting resulted in the Indian PM seen as giving up the stand on rejection of dialogue, unless Islamabad acted on its promise of anti-terror steps. There was a tense period when Congress spokesmen tried to delink the party from the PM decision. Damage-control had to be done by Sonia Gandhi again reiterating that terror and dialogue cannot go together, a view reaffirmed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Home Minister P. Chidambaram in recent weeks.

This time, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi pushed hard to force the government to get the Bill on Women’s Reservation voted in the Rajya Sabha, despite the risks it would face in the Lok Sabha. Even a section of the Congress MPs have reservations on the move as the step would impact on the number of male MPs in the next Lok Sabha polls.

In its effort to cool down the heated rhetoric over the liability for nuclear damage, the government has offered talks with Opposition parties on the legislation while ruling out FDI in nuclear power generation.

The government, to counter the charge that the bill was only a precursor to foreign participation in operating nuclear power plants in India, said the Atomic Energy Act would not be amended. Though the UPA has the numbers in Lok Sabha, it does not want to make the bill a major test of strength.

- Asian Tribune -