2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt puts off talks with IAEA, NSG</b>
Pioneer.com
Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
Cong gives in to mounting pressure from poll-shy allies
Lalu, Pawar 'convince' Sonia to put deal in cold storage
The Government seems to have caved in under pressure of the allies to avert the possibility of mid-term polls and delay the slated negotiations with the IAEA and NSG for the next three months.

While there was no official word from the Government, the UPA allies have claimed that the Congress leadership has conveyed to them that they should not worry about political instability at this juncture.

The development comes amid reports that several UPA allies like the RJD, NCP and the DMK were totally opposed to going to the polls on the issue of India-US nuclear deal.

In fast changing political scenario, this could not be the last word on the UPA-Left stand-off on the nuclear deal since the Prime Minister's personal prestige is at stake, but the allies are convinced that the Government will not go ahead with the nuclear deal.

"We have been conveyed by the Congress leadership that the Government will not be going ahead on India-US civil nuclear agreement in the absence of consensus among the allies and the supporting Left parties," a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader told The Pioneer.

"The threat of election is over, there would be no mid-term polls now," he added. 
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