Congress not sure on IAEA talks

The reason: despite the Samajwadi Party's support for the deal, the government is still unsure about being able to muster the numbers to win a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha.

The Left parties had written a letter asking the government to clarify their position on the IAEA move. But they are now preparing to pull out from the UPA as soon as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his Japan visit.

This will make a trust vote inevitable in mid-July. And the government is afraid that it may not have the numbers to face a trust vote with the UNPA (12), Bahujan Samaj Party (19), Left (61) and NDA (177) opposing the government. The Opposition has 267 MPs in a 542-member House.

A top UPA minister, who is a member of the core committee, told Business Standard, "We discussed a possible reply to the Left's letter. But the government is yet to decide on when to approach the IAEA to finalise the safeguards agreement."

Although the SP has pledged its support in favour of the nuclear deal, the government realises that it will have to face the trust vote with a wafer-thin majority.

According to estimates, the UPA