Cong sees little light at end of N-deal debate

Without a Plan B in place to defend the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement in Parliament, Congress managers are wondering if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be able to brazen out the opposition to the agreement or buckle under a likely parliamentary rejection.

Top government managers were closeted throughout the day trying to argue out a scenario that would be a win-win for both the Left and the prime minister.

By the end of the day, they conceded this was not possible as the Left was unlikely to endorse the agreement in Parliament. As the BJP has already announced its opposition, this means more than half the Parliament will reject the agreement.

Although there is no possibility that the discussion will lead to voting, the humiliation of losing the support of Parliament on an agreement the prime minister has staked the government's prestige on can lead to unforeseen problems, party managers say.

A part of the problem is that the Congress was not taken into confidence before the prime minister posed his challenge to the Left.

As the president of the Congress and the most important pointsperson in dealing with the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA's) partners, Sonia Gandhi should have been the person to take a call if the Congress needed to take its relationship with the Left to the next, adversarial level.

Talk has already started among the UPA allies that rather than face a mid-term election, they will prefer to replace the face associated with the agreement.

Party managers are also worried at the communal turn sought to be given to the agreement. There was method in the Samajwadi Party's madness in opposing in Parliament the "design of the US" ""earning a degree of credibility with Muslims.

If Congress managers go out on a limb supporting the agreement and justifying the party's closeness to the US, this will impact the party's Muslim constituency, party leaders say.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was in meetings with several allies, including RJD leader Lalu Prasad, till late last night. Intensive consultations are on to prepare the Congress for a spirited defence of the government when Parliament meets on Thursday. "It is going to be a difficult weekend," a top minister said.