Railway Minister Lalu Prasad ruled out any threat to the UPA government in the wake of the stand-off with the Left parties over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
“No party, Left or Right, wants mid-term elections as it would not be beneficial for the electorate and the political parties, it would arrest the pace of the ongoing economic development in the country,” he said.
However, when journalists plied him with questions for a response on the possible fall of the government due to the crisis, he said, “if it happens, what can be done”.
Prasad said efforts were being made at various levels to allay the Left parties’ concern over the sensitive issue.
“In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly addressed the Left parties’ concerns on the nuclear issue and reiterated that the proposed deal did not compromise with our sovereignty nor our rights to conduct a nuclear test in future,” he said.
Prasad said the key allies (Left), which had threatened to withdraw their support if the government went ahead with operationalising the deal, would not dislodge the government and their concerns would be addressed to their satisfaction.
When repeatedly asked about the possibility of a mid-term poll, Prasad said he was confident that the nuclear issue would not rock the boat of the government, but even if such a scenario was raised, it could not be helped.
On the next month’s meeting between the IAEA and the Indian representatives on the deal, Prasad said the government should go ahead with negotiations as it was a continuous process.