NCP, a key constituent of UPA, wants the entire alliance to face the next Lok Sabha elections together, and feels it will "not be easy" for the government to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal with the Left parties' serious opposition to it.The party also thinks that the Lok Sabha elections will be held at the "normal time" next year and there will be no snap polls. It endorsed as "pragmatic" the views of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the deal is not worth risking the government."Our desire is to contest elections with Congress. We feel the UPA should collectively fight the elections as UPA. We will prefer to fight along with UPA partners throughout India like we do in Maharashtra and Goa," Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar said during an interaction with PTI today.He categorically rejected the possibility of going with the BJP and suggested that nothing should be read in the saffron party giving outside support to the coalition government in Meghalaya in which NCP plays an important role.Pawar, who is a member of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal, gave indications that it would be difficult to push through the deal in the face of Left opposition."It is a coalition government and we are running it with the support of Left and it is very valuable. If any of our supporters are raising concerns, it is the responsibility of those sitting in the seat of power to explain to them and remove their concerns. We are in the process of doing it," he said.
