Left Front ready to dump Govt, vote against it

New Delhi: The Left Front will withdraw support to the UPA Government and even vote against it in Parliament if it goes with talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Indo-US nuclear deal, sources have told CNN-IBN.

The Congress’ allies, however, are working overtime to prevent a showdown between the Government and the Left Front. CNN-IBN learns that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has conveyed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi that he would resign if the deal doesn’t go through. UPA allies have publicly backed the Prime Minister on the nuclear deal but the possibility of his resignation triggering early general elections has got them worried.

NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar met CPI M general secretary Prakash Karat on Friday morning and urged him not to withdraw support over the nuclear deal.

Sources say Karat told Pawar that the Government is safe till it does not take any further step on the nuclear deal. While speaking at a seminar later, Karat said that the Left Front doesn’t want the Government to fall.

"All this I am speaking hoping that the government will continue its full term. We are trying to make serious efforts. Sometime back, the Prime Minister has said that we are not a one-issue government," Karat said. "We hope that the Government will fulfill its commitments."

UPA’s tough choices

The UPA Government has four options. It decides to go ahead with talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on India-specific safeguards agreements. The Left, which is against this, will withdraw support and the UPA would be forced to call for an election.

If the Left withdraws support, the UPA can continue as a minority government with the help of parties like the SP which has 37 MPs. Such an arrangement would defer polls.

The third option is that the government decides to go to the IAEA but gives a written assurance that the deal won’t be taken to the US congress without the Left's approval. Political analysts say this looks highly unlikely.

The fourth and most likely scenario at this stage is that the allies put pressure on the Prime Minister to defer a decision on the nuclear deal till at least September so that polls are not held till next year.

The BJP, the country’s main Opposition, party made it clear that it would not rescue the Government nuclear deal. ''There is no question of supporting the UPA Government on the nuclear deal in its present form as it is against national interest,'' said senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu.

''The countdown for the collapse of the UPA experiment has started and early elections to the Lok Sabha are imminent,'' he said.