Soon after UPA parleys began, it became crystal clear that no one wanted early elections that could be precipitated by the withdrawal of the Left Front’s support should the government go ahead with the deal or even go to Vienna to sign the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Ironically, the difference between “advanced elections” and the poll on schedule is just four months. But the trouble is that inflation rising to the frightening double-digit figure of 11.05 per cent has sent shivers down the spines of politicians of all hues.

That is where the characteristic double-speak and hypocrisy of Indian politics came in. Congress spokespersons declared emphatically that Congress President Sonia Gandhi as well as the entire Congress party were “squarely for the deal and behind the prime minister”, while senior leaders got busy privately to persuade the good doctor that it would be better to wait until the party could be sure of receiving the support of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. The 39 votes he commands in the Lok Sabha could be vital to bail out the UPA government. The tack of the allied leaders was different: “We are for the deal, but we also want to carry the Left with us”, a classic case of wanting to have one’s cake and eat it too. No wonder some are commenting that the prime minister has been “let down”.

During the last four years, the Congress leadership has treated the Samajwadi leader and his Man Friday, Amar Singh, with disdain. But the duo has its own reason to cosy up with the Union government. For, they are under virulent attack by the formidable chief minister of UP, Mayawati, who has remarkably withdrawn support from the UPA already. On the other hand, Yadav is under intense pressure from his old-time leftist allies. He is also a member of the so-called third front, somewhat unoriginally named United National Progressive Alliance. It is meeting in Hyderabad on July 3, and some of its leading lights are talking of a “collective decision” on the nuclear deal. What exactly the SP leader will do no one can foretell. But even if he does walk into the Congress’s parlour, is there a guarantee that he would not prove to be as slippery as other allies have?

... contd.