Break nuke deal logjam, say both Cong and Left

Both of them have managed to make their respective parties fall in line. While the Congress, till date, strongly backs Singh's nuclear pitch and feels that the Indo-US deal must go ahead, Karat too has the backing of the top leadership of the CPI(M) and even the three smaller Left parties (the RSP, the Forward Bloc and the CPI) when he threatens to withdraw support from the UPA government.

Both the leaders have tried hard to woo UPA allies to their side and have been partially successful. The UPA allies like Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), K Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) or Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) support Singh's efforts and have refused to toe Karat's line despite much persuasion by the Left.

However, Singh and Congress managers have not been able to prepare the allies for plunging into an early Lok Sabha election. The UPA allies, echoing the Left, feel the government should not topple over the nuclear deal.

But this is only for the record. Informal briefings over the past few days show that there is a strong undercurrent against the rigid stand of Singh and Karat in their respective camps.

A large section of Congressmen fell Singh should show some flexibility in a coalition government and not make the nuclear deal a prestige issue. Similarly, many in the Left, including the CPI(M), feel if Karat's stance leads to an early election, the Left will lose badly.

Many in the Congress are hoping that Sonia Gandhi will finally step in to rein in Singh and avoid a crisis. According to sources in the party, although Karat has taken a rigid stand, the Left is desperately trying to find ways to delay the election without compromising its basic stand, that is, opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal.

But Gandhi has not shown any sign of checking Singh and instead backs him fully. In an interesting development, Defence Minister AK Antony has been asked to accompany External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the informal parleys with the allies and the Left.

Earlier, Mukherjee used to deal with the allies on his own. He even held a crucial one-to-one meeting with Karat last Monday, but for the last two days, the plan has changed. Antony, one of the most trusted aides of Gandhi, has ben deployed to keep a close watch on the mood of the Left and the allies.

Congress sources point out that this is also Gandhi's way to show that she is backing efforts to persuade the Left to walk the nuclear path. However, many leaders are waiting to see how long Gandhi will back her prime minister.

For the next few days, Singh and Karat will face another similarity between them. Their two main pointsmen