Cong, Left make peace but cold war gets worse

New Delhi: The Congress and its Left allies have rejected fears that the country was moving toward a mid-term poll because of their differences over the nuclear deal with the US.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in an interview to The Telegraph on Saturday, said he would not renegotiate the deal again for the sake of the Left parties. "I told (Left parties) it is not possible to renegotiate the deal. It is an honourable deal; we cannot go back on it. I told them to do whatever they want to do. If they want to withdraw support, so be it," Singh said.

The Left parties had warned that the government would have to pay a "political price" for the deal, but after the Prime Minister’s statement Left leaders softened their stance. “Everything should not be linked to pulling down the government,” CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said in Hyderabad.

Singh in the evening said differences with the Left would be "resolved amicably" and dismissed possibility of a snap poll. "Where is the question of a mid-term poll? All the problems will be resolved. There is no problem," he said at the swearing in ceremony of Vice President Hamid Ansari in Delhi.

"What crisis?" he said when asked whether the UPA faced a crisis.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi too said "no " when asked whether the country was headed towards a snap poll.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, in a statement, said the Prime Minister and the government must realise that "this agreement is not acceptable to the majority in Parliament".

Karat said the Left parties did not share the optimism that India could become a great power with the help of the US. "India is a country endowed with sufficient resources and self-confidence to carve out its own path of development".

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government was willing to hold talks with Left parties "at any point of time" and that he was in touch with their leaders in connection with the floor management in Parliament.

The Prime Minister is expected to make a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha on the deal on Monday.