கம்யூனிஸ்டுகளுக்கு அஞ்சவில்லை. தேர்தலுக்கு காங்கிரஸ் தயாராக உள்ளது - சோனியா

கம்யூனிஸ்டுகளுக்கு அஞ்சவில்லை. தேர்தலுக்கு காங்கிரஸ் தயாராக உள்ளது என்று சோனியா காந்தி கூறியுள்ளார்



Sonia signal to Left, not afraid of polls
7 Oct 2007, 0154 hrs IST,TNN

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asserted that her party was fully geared up to face early polls. This is sure to deepen the political uncertainties triggered by the UPA-Left clash over the nuclear deal.

Denying that she was concerned about the prospect of the feud over the deal leading to the breakup of UPA-Left ties and forcing early elections, the Congress chief said, "Not at all, if there are polls you face it."

The remark was in response to a question at an Iftar get-together hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and followed a determined effort by Sonia to fend off a persistent media trying to draw her out on the tension with the Left and its consequences.

Yet, coming just a day after government bluntly told the Left that it would soon open safeguards negotiations with IAEA, it is sure to spur the already intense speculation about the fate of the Left-UPA partnership.

The get-together saw the PM trying to put up a brave front suggesting that he was still hopeful of the impasse over the deal being sorted out.

Asked whether polls were inevitable, the PM responded by saying that "nothing is inevitable". He also said that there was reason to be hopeful as long as the dialogue with the Left was on.

But while he skirted around the possibility of early elections, saying that he was not an astrologer, the prospect of the UPA-Left alliance crumbling soon and leading to polls early this year hung heavy over the Iftar gathering.

Apart from the Congress chief and the PM, other UPA bigwigs also spent the evening fielding questions from reporters.

More importantly, the remark followed clear indications that government could soon announce its decision on opening negotiations with IAEA for India-specific safeguards.

An unambiguous indication of its resolve to press ahead with the deal in defiance of Left's veto came at the meeting of the UPA-Left panel on the deal on Friday, with the government side making it clear that the process for the operationalisation of the deal could not be kept on hold any longer.

Given the gulf, it is also likely that the meeting scheduled for Tuesday may turn out to be the last between the two sides.

Significantly, the PM said government was looking forward to a dialogue with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei during his three-day visit to India next week. "He is our honoured guest, he will meet me," Singh said.