Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and M Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) were the objects of affection of both the Congress and the Left. While Lalu Prasad clearly indicated that he was putting his weight behind the Congress and, at a press conference, encouraged the government to go ahead with the negotiations at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), so that India was able to negotiate civil nuclear energy with other nations as well, DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan said his party MP and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi had already made this point clear in the Rajya Sabha recently.
"We will support the Congress on the issue," he said. Asked whether the implementation of the deal would cause a split between the Left parties and the Congress, he said Karunanidhi had already stated that any such divisions between the UPA and the Left would only pave the way for "communal forces like the BJP".
But other allies did not appear to be so willing to give up government for the agreement. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the convenor of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal, had to write a letter to all the UPA allies explaining the situation and why the government needed nuclear energy. The letter emphasised concern about rising fuel prices and the need to look for alternative energy sources.
Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony have been asked by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to lead consultations with the allies and other political parties. Mukherjee and Antony had a meeting with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, this afternoon. But Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was perhaps the busiest UPA ally as he met both the Congress and Left leaders. CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury met also Prasad.
Mukherjee also had a late night meeting with the PM after an informal chat with Yechury.
