Congress rules out mid-term poll, nuclear impasse to end soon

Patna, Oct 10 (UNI) The Congress today ruled out any possibility of mid-term poll following deadlock over Indo-US nuclear deal between the UPA and Left and exuded confidence that the impasse would be resolved through dialogue.

Spokesman of All India Congress Committee (AICC) and Minister of State for Telecommunication Shakeel Ahmad told newspersons here that the Committee of UPA and Left, constituted for dialogue to remove misgivings on the issue, was working well and hoped logjam over the nuclear deal would be cleared soon.

'' The Indo-US nuclear deal was signed in the interest of the nation and any apprehension on the deal has nothing to do with ground realities, '' he said.

'' Yesterday's talks between the UPA and Left over the deadlock on Indo-US nuclear deal were encouraging and the matter was expected to be sorted out on October 22, the next date slated for negotiation to break the ice, '' the Congress spokesman said.

The positive approach of the Left during yesterday's talks had definitely splashed the ray of hope for averting the mid-term poll, he stated.

Most of the political parties were not in favour of mid-term poll, he remarked and maintained that the Congress was not interested in forcing the mid-term poll on the masses, as was being propagated by some vested interests.

When asked, Mr Ahmad admitted that CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu was playing pivotal role in breaking the deadlock between the Congress and the Left, and said Mr Basu commanded immense respect in the Congress as well.

He appreciated the Left for supporting the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre despite the fact that both parties were under compulsion to fight each other in several states, including West Bengal and Kerala.

Referring to the political situation in Bihar, he said the Nitish Kumar government had failed on all fronts and added Mr Kumar could no longer claim himself to be secular as he was enjoying power with the support of a ''communal'' party like the BJP, he said.

The BJP could go to any extent for the sake of power and it compromised on its ideology on one pretext or the other, he remarked.

UNI