A senior minister said Friday's meet UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal was crucial to allow the government to approach the IAEA.
Congress on Sunday won two assembly by-elections in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana appearing not to have been hit by the spate of scams rocking the United Progressive Alliance coalition at the Centre while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a humiliating defeat in Karnataka.
Sonia held discussions with Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan in an effort to break the logjam over the issue that has created a face-off between the Congress and the Left parties. The leaders of the UPA constituents conveyed to Sonia that they back the nuclear deal, but do not favour early polls, particularly because of high inflation.
The decision to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investments in multi-brand retail has been put on hold by the government following strong objections from the Opposition and key United Progressive Alliance allies Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Abhijit Mukherjee is a proud man. By the time of filing this report, his father, United Progressive Alliance-nominated candidate Pranab Mukherjee, was leading the Presidential election with 438,502 votes against the Opposition-backed P A Sangma.
The tussle for No 2 position in United Progressive Alliance-II has put the spotlight on the political careers of A K Antony and Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, which show striking similarities.