Sonia's N-deal remark sends poll bells ringing

If there were any doubts over an imminent mid-term election, they were set to rest today when Congress President Sonia Gandhi said in Haryana that those who were opposing the Indo-US civil nuclear deal were enemies of the nation and wanted to keep India backward.

Also, in an unpublicised meeting with the Left brass in Kolkata, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the UPA government would not back down from the agreement. This means it is a matter of time before India reopens negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Gandhi formally declared the election season open in Haryana, where she had gone to inaugurate the upgrade of several railway lines.

It was Railway Minister Lalu Prasad who set the tone by launching a full-throated praise of Gandhi and said India had made great strides under her leadership of the UPA.

Prasad's speech, delivered with all the drama he could command, had Gandhi smiling and laughing several times. In her speech, she attacked the opponents of the nuclear deal and said if the pace of the country's progress was to be maintained, power generation needed to be increased.

She said certain elements in the country were acting as impediments to the nation's progress and they needed to be given a befitting reply.

"Such elements are not only the enemies of the Congress but also of peace and development. We should join hands to give them an appropriate answer," she told a gathering at Jharli village in the district after laying the foundation stone of Rs 7,892-crore 1,500-Mw Indira Gandhi Super Thermal power project.

Interestingly, as Gandhi did not directly refer to the opposition to the deal from the Left parties, her comments created some confusion "" whether they were aimed at the BJP or the Left parties, with whom the government is engaged in a formal dialogue.

With the Left having virtually decided that formal withdrawal of support could be finalised after Viajaydashami, at the end of the month, Gandhi is obviously not putting much faith in the ongoing dialogue.

Noting that every part of the country needed power, she said, "We are working at every level to meet the energy needs of the people. That is why the nuclear deal with the US has been proposed".

The same theme was voiced by Mukherjee in Kolkata at a meeting with the Left leadership.

He reportedly told former chief minister Jyoti Basu, chairman of the Left Front in West Bengal, Biman Bose, and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that the Congress could not be persuaded to back off from the nuclear agreement, though the concerns of the Left parties would be taken on board.

With the two sides agreeing to disagree, the stage is set for a showdown.

Reacting to Gandhi's remarks, the Left said the Congress was forcing elections on the country, while the BJP said the "countdown" for mid-term polls has begun due to the slanging match between the Left and the ruling party.

"The Left parties are lampooning the UPA every day. What we can say for sure now is that the countdown for mid-term polls has begun and only the timing is to be decided," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told PTI.

CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan said the Congress "is going in an election mode."

"The Congress wants to impose elections on the country. It is the Congress which will be responsible if the governments falls," he said.