No threat to govt, no mid-term poll: PM, Sonia

New Delhi, Aug 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today ruled out mid-term elections, asserting that there was no threat to the government in the wake of the Left parties' strident opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal.

''Where is the question?....Why do you say that?'' was the response of Dr Singh to reporters who wanted to know whether the country was headed for mid-term polls following the threat issued by the Left.

''No, no, no'' was the reply of Ms Gandhi, who was standing next to CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, to the same query. They were talking to reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhavan after attending a function in which Mr Hamid Ansari was sworn in as the Vice President.

Talking to reporters minutes later, Mr Yechury and Mr D Raja, National Secretary of the CPI, however, maintained the Left parties continued to have serious reservations over the 123 Agreement, which would operationalise the nuclear deal, and would voice these publicly.

They were responding to Dr Singh's observation that the ''deal is signed and sealed'' and that he had delivered what he had promised to Parliament on the deal.

Asked about his interview to a newspaper in which he had dared the Left parties to withdraw their support to the UPA government on the nuclear pact, Dr Singh said, ''these are conditional statements.

It does not mean mid-term elections.'' ''All problems can be resolved and will be resolved,'' he said in reply to a question whether he was hopeful of convincing the Left on the issue.

The government could not go back on the nuclear deal struck after tough negotiations and not through some magic, like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, Dr Singh said.

UNI