In the strongest public indication of a climbdown since the last UPA-Left meeting on the nuclear deal, both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today ruled out the possibility of an early general election and indicated that although efforts were on to see the nuclear deal through, this wasn’t a “one-issue government.”

Singh, who had dared the Left to withdraw support on the nuclear deal saying it was etched in stone, stood by his statement but said that the failure to carry the deal through “is not the end of life.”

Sonia Gandhi said the Left’s opposition is “not unreasonable,” and it’s the Congress’s coalition dharma to address the concerns of its partners. Both were speaking at The Hindustan Times leadership summit here today.

“Elections are still far away. The government has still one and half years to go to complete its term. I hope and expect we will stay the course,” the Prime Minister said.

“No, we are not in favour of early elections. As the Prime Minister has said, the deadline is 2009. We are going to do all that we can to see that we implement our programmes till 2009,” Sonia said.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the same conference that he would present the Budget as per schedule and “there will not be any compromise on fundamental principles of reforms.”

Asked if he would quit if the nuclear deal was not implemented, the PM said “it is a suggestion for action”. However, describing the deal as “honourable,” the Singh said he had not given up hope that the differences with the Left would be reconciled.

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