Jul 8, 2008, 13:21 GMT
New Delhi - Communist partners withdrew their support for India's ruling United Progressive Alliance on Tuesday in a dispute over a civilian nuclear deal with the United States.
The left-wing parties said they took the decision after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government would approach the International Atomic Energy Agency for safeguards to implement the programme.
Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the four leftist parties backing the government, told reporters they would formally withdraw support on Wednesday, a day ahead of Singh's return from the G8 summit in Japan.
'In view of the prime minister's announcement, that time has come (to withdraw our support),' Karat said.
He read a letter sent to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, informing him of the end to a deal which has provided the Congress-party led UPA with a parliamentary majority for more than four years.
'We have asked the president (Pratibha Patil) for an appointment tomorrow morning so we can go and formally withdraw support,' Karat added.
Communist leaders said they would urge Patil to ask the government to prove its majority on the floor of the parliament.
The communists oppose the nuclear deal, saying it would compromise on India's strategic sovereignty and make the country a stooge of 'US imperialism.'
The leftist bloc also includes the Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Forward Bloc, with a combined total of 59 members in the 543-member lower house.
Meanwhile, Singh told reporters in Japan that the withdrawal of support did not threaten his government's stability, the PTI news agency reported. 'I do not think it will affect the stability of our government,' he was quoted as saying.
The Congress party claimed the coalition had enough support to win a no-confidence motion, if such a vote was called. The UPA, whose five-year term ends in May 2009, has ruled out new elections.
'We have the numbers and we will prove our majority in the Lok Sabha (lower house),' Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told the IANS news agency.
Soon after the withdrawal by the leftists, the Samajwadi Party (SP), once Congress's arch-foe, pledged its support to the embattled coalition.
With the withdrawal of leftist support, the ruling coalition will see its parliamentary representation slashed to 226, some 46 seats short of a majority.
With backing from the SP and a handful of independents it would be able to muster a majority, political analysts said.
Under the nuclear agreement, which was announced in 2005, the US has promised to grant India access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel in exchange for international safeguards on India's civilian reactors.
After reaching a safeguards agreement with the UN, New Delhi has to lobby for an India-specific waiver with the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group and later send the agreement for final ratification by the US Congress.
India's political crisis comes as Delhi is under pressure from Washington to finalize the deal. Analysts say time is running out, with new US elections slated for November.
The government says the accord would end three decades of nuclear isolation and provide help towards meeting India's soaring energy needs in order to maintain its high economic growth.
According to Indian officials, Singh is due to discuss the issue with US President George W Bush in Japan on Wednesday.
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