MUMBAI (Agencies): Political uncertainty has deepened in India with the communist allies of the government hardening their stance against the nuclear deal with the US.
The communists say the deal, under which India gets access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel, gives the US leverage on India's foreign policy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government is struggling to weather the crisis as communist allies threaten to end support over a nuclear energy deal with the US.
The four communist parties have 60 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, and while they are not part of the ruling coalition they shore it up from outside.
The main opposition party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party, has said they are ready for elections if the communists withdraw support to the government.
But the communists insist that bringing down the government is not a "priority".
Communist leader Prakash Karat said their priority was to maintain "a secular government".
The Congress government has said it is confident of resolving its differences with the communists despite the difficult situation it finds itself in.
But they told Singh and the leader of the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, at the weekend that they should not proceed further with the nuclear agreement and warned of "serious consequences" if they did.
Other allies have backed the agreement amid fears that communists may withdraw support for the government.
This is one of the worst crises facing India's Congress-led government.
It has had an uneasy relationship with its communist allies ever since it came to power in 2004.
A flurry of meetings over the weekend failed to break the impasse, with the communists insisting on stalling the deal.
There were reports that the government has suggested setting up a committee to discuss the details of the deal to placate communist fears.
India's political impasse deepens
FE Team | Published: August 21, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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