No mid-term polls; UPA Govt set to run full course: PM, Sonia

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) Scotching speculation that a mid-term Lok Sabha poll is imminent in view of the UPA-Left standoff on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today asserted that the government would run its full course by completing the remaining 20 months.

''If the (nuclear) deal does not come through, it will be a disappointment. In life, one has to live with certain disappointments and move on,'' Dr Singh said, ruling out the possibility of early elections.

''Well, elections are still far away. The government has still one and a half years to complete its full term. I hope, we will stay in course'' for completing its five-year term as ''it is not a one issue government.'' Dr Singh was replying to a pointed question, ''Are you looking at elections?'' at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Interacting with the gathering at the summit later, Ms Gandhi said the nuclear deal was not a ''be all, end all'' issue.

''I regret it is perceived like that. But it is not like that. It is one of the issues of the government,'' Ms Gandhi said.

Both Dr Singh and Ms Gandhi categorically denied that they had launched any attack on the Left on the nuclear deal.

The Prime Minister said he had only expressed the optimism that better sense would prevail, while Ms Gandhi said it was not in her nature or any of her party colleagues to go public over the differences with the Left.

Replying to a question about her reported criticism of the Left, describing it as the enemy of development, in a recent public address in Haryana, Ms Gandhi said she was merely referring to the opposition in that state, not the Left parties.

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