SP to bailout Congress on nuke deal

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and party general secretary Amar Singh met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to discuss the Indo-US nuclear deal. It was not clear as to what transpired during the meeting, but one thing was certain that former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's endorsement of the nuke deal could well prove to be a critical factor in determining which way the pendulum swings. Yadav met Kalam to seek his views on the Indo-US nuke deal. The former President is learnt to have told the SP chief that the deal is in the interest of the country.

The two SP leaders were also likely to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi and may announce their stand on the nuke deal only after getting the backing of their fellow UNPA partners, who are against any kind of alliance with the Congress. The Congress party is cozying up to the SP as the Left parties have threatened to withdraw their support if the Government goes ahead with talks with the IAEA on India-centric safeguards. The SP has 39 seats in the Lok Sabha while the Left has 59 members.

Meanwhile, the Left front held a meeting to finalise their gameplan once the Government announces its decision to take the next step on the nuke deal. CPM boos Prakash Karat announced that the communist parties will launch a national campaign from July 14, to explain to the people their opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal. Karat also said that the Left parties have written a letter to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, seeking confirmation on w