The Hindu Business Line : UPA Govt will finish its term: PM, Sonia

New Delhi, Oct. 12 Setting at rest mounting speculation over early polls, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, on Friday asserted that the Government would last out its full term. Dr Singh also indicated at the possibility of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal being put on the backburner to keep the ruling coalition afloat, amidst sharp differences between the UPA and its Left allies.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Dr Singh said that failure to carry the deal through would not be “the end of life.” “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.”

Work for consensus

The Congress President, who spoke at the conference after the Prime Minister had left, 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.” She, however, added that efforts were on to bring about a consensus with the Left on the nuclear deal.

Ms Gandhi said that the Left parties, which were opposing the deal, were not being “unreasonable” and that the Government was not looking for a confrontation with them because that was not the “coalition dharma.” “They have certain ideology, they have some views. They are merely stating their views. We have to understand their views and take note of what they say.”

Art of the possible

Earlier, Dr Singh dismissed a question on whether he would step down if the nuclear deal was not implemented by stating, “It is a suggestion for action.” Asked if he would be a weak Prime Minister if the deal failed, Dr Singh said, “We are not a one-issue Government. If the deal does not come through it will be a disappointment. But in life one has to live with certain disappointments and move on.” He also said that politics was the “art of the possible” and that “in politics we must survive short term battles to address long-term concerns.”

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