PM talks tough with allies over nuclear deal

'How can I run the government like this?' he said.

An unhappy Manmohan Singh told allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that if they did not support the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement "" which they had endorsed in a Cabinet meeting "" his continuing as prime minister would be untenable.

"How can I run the government like this," the prime minister reportedly said. This declaration came just ahead of a scheduled meeting between the UPA and the Left on the nuclear agreement, to which the latter has raised objections.

The prime minister's message to the allies had the desired effect. At the UPA-Left meeting, all three ministers from partner parties "" Lalu Prasad from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Sharad Pawar from the Nationalist Congress Party and T R Baalu of the Dravida Munnatra Kazagam "" requested the Left leaders to allow the government to initiate safeguards talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

These ministers had largely been silent at previous meetings. The two sides resolved to meet again on November 16.

Sources close to Singh said he took exception to DMK leader M Karunanidhi criticising the nuclear deal and told the allies that their statements were tantamount to undermining his authority as prime minister.

At this point the allies scrambled to assure him that they were part of the UPA and that there was no question of any prime minister other than him.

This mood infected the Left-UPA meeting. The Left initially asked for a written statement but had to make do with verbal assurances since it was pointed out that the UPA-Left committee was "unofficial" in nature.

The recent public speeches on the deal made by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister were also read out to the Left but no explanations were given.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also took the opportunity to reiterate the point that "so far as the government is concerned this is the best possible deal".

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