“We knew the agreement would be criticized. The Left Parties were opposed to any closeness to the US and would oppose the agreement on principle. The BJP would criticize the government for accepting too many conditions”, Montak wrote.

In October 2007, Sonia Gandhi asked Montek to come and see her. She had never done this before. So he said “I was naturally curious.” She said Prakash Karat had told her categorically that if the government proceeded with the deal the Left would withdraw support. She also said that the PM had told her that the Left would keep badgering the government and “if we were to be pushed to the polls in any case, it was better if it happens earlier than later. The PM was concerned that if we had a bad monsoon next year, the economic situation could deteriorate, reducing the scope, of reducing the scope for manoeuvre, and it was best to move quickly”.

She also told Montek that PM had offered to resign and let her reshuffle the leadership at the top, if she wanted. “She wanted me to urge the PM not to resign”. He had the full weight of her support and that of party, but neither party nor allies wanted early elections.

Sonia Gandhi said she did not think the nuclear deal was an issue on which to risk an early election. “I agreed with her that this was not the time for the PM to force an election. In fact, I pointed out that in the course of Hindustan Times leadership summit, an aggressive questioner referring to the Opposition to the nuclear deal, asked whether the deal was being abandoned? The PM himself had responded by saying we were not ‘one issue’ government. She asked me to brief the PM on our conversation and convey to him that this was not the time to resign”, Montek wrote.

“I reported the conversion to the PM, including my view, and pointed out that the public did not finally understand the benefits of nuclear deal and a much stronger effort was needed to educate public opinion. I felt we had not adequately emphasized that the waiver from NSG (Nuclear suppliers Group), which prohibited members from engaging in nuclear trade with any country that was not signatory of the NPT (None Proliferation Treaty) would not just open the doors for US to collaborate with India but allow such collaboration with other countries. In effect, by helping us to obtain an NSG waiver, the US would be opening many doors for us that would otherwise remain completely closed. He did not reveal his mind in our conversation but I was happy to find that he did not resign at that time”.

Meanwhile, the Left hardened its position….By February, the Left parties said the government would have to choose between the nuclear deal and its own stability setting a deadline of March 15 for the government to indicate its intentions. The Left knew the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards agreement was an essential steps before the US Congress could approve the 123 agreement, so it concentrated its efforts on preventing the government from going to IAEA.

On June25, 2008, Sonia Gandhi again asked Montek to come and see her. She said she had been told by many people that the PM was thinking of resigning and this would be a disaster for the party if he did, as none of the allies were keen on an early election. “My response on this occasion was different from a year earlier. I had agreed then that this was premature to risk an election on this issue but now felt the situation had changed. The issues involved had been adequately explained in public and we had reached a point where credibility of the government would be affected if we appeared paralyzed by a Left veto. I informed her that I had already told the PM the right course, in my view, was to go to IAEA and take the risk of the Left pulling out. She heard me out and asked me to convey the gist of our conversation and her views to PM, which I did that very day.”

Ahluwalia writes: “I have no idea whether they discussed the issue further but we know that the PM stood firm and sent the draft agreement to the IAEA shortly before leaving for G8 summit meeting in Japan.

True to its words, the Left withdrew. The PM sought a vote of confidence in the house. It was tense as both the Left and BJP were on the same side. The opposition from the Left was not a surprise but the opposition from the BJP was mystifying. Brajesh Mishra, former principal Secretary and Security Advisor to former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee had supported the deal .The PM told me that he had spoken to Vajpayee explaining that what the government had done was logical culmination of the efforts at rapprochement begun by him. He said Vajpayee seems to agree but expressed helplessness.”

Fortunately, the Samajwadi Party, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav came to rescue of Manmohan Singh. This turned the table and the government survived. Manmohan Singh’s quiet leadership was the critical driving force that made the nuclear agreement a success. (IPA Service)