Allies: UPA must remain together

BY VENKATESH KESARI

New Delhi

June 27: The war of nerves between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left on the Indo-US nuclear deal is nothing but a "moonch ki ladai (fight for pride)", but they will have to remain together in the larger interest of the country, feel UPA allies at a time when speculation is rife about early Lok Sabha polls.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet the AICC general secretaries on Saturday to know the ground-level situation in the states they are in charge of against the backdrop of these developments. Their feedback will be conveyed to the Prime Minister.

Though the managers of the Congress and its allies do not think the current stalemate is a "political crisis" in the election year, they felt the unity of the anti-BJP parties would be more important in the post-poll scenario as no party is going to get a majority on its own. "We don’t think the Prime Minister would take the extreme step of quitting the post, he knows its consequences. That apart, it does not happen in the Congress," they said.

The allies suggested the way out to break the impasse on this issue during their one-on-one meeting with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi a few days back. They have also asked the Congress leadership about the perception of the people on the deal and its impact on them.

"If there is no governemnt then there would be no deal," said an ally leader, asking the UPA leadership, "Do we want to make the Left our permanent enemy? Dr Manmohan Singh is not the Congress Prime Minister. He is heading the government as the UPA leader. He has to take the allies into confidence."

They also asked where the numbers are if the Left withdraws support. "Everybody — the Congress, its allies and the Left — wants time for poll preparation. The elections can be held either in Novermber or December 2008 or April or May 2009. But it will not be fought merely on the nuclear deal," a Union minister said. But highly-placed sources in the Congress said next month would be crucial politically. Meanwhile, the government and the Congress continued to weigh options before taking the plunge on whether to go ahead with approaching the IAEA.

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‘Left will lose by opposing’

BY MANOJ ANAND

Guwahati

June 27: AICC general secretary Veerappa Moily said here on Friday that the Left parties would lose heavily if they fail to amend their stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Asserting that the UPA will go ahead with the nuclear deal, Mr Moily told reporters, "There is no politics. This is a deal which will change the face of the economy, which will open many vistas. If we cannot push the deal, the posterity shall never forgive us. India needs the deal for its populace." He asserted that despite the CWC resolution and the Cabinet decision, the Congress was dithering only to take every political party on board for this deal. He also ruled out any threat to the UPA government.