Congress leaders meet after Left's ultimatum to govt on N-deal

NEW DELHI: Soon after the Left issued an ultimatum to the government over the Indo-US nuclear deal, top Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, held confabulations on ways to deal with the situation.

An emergency meeting of the Congress core group was called minutes after CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat warned the government of 'serious consequences' if the nuclear deal was operationalised.

The 90-minute meeting at the Prime Minister's Race Course Road residence was also attended by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is understood to have briefed the Congress leadership about the intricate aspects of the deal and implications.

Before the core group meeting, Mukherjee held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who apprised him of the strategic fallout if the process of operationalising the deal is put on hold.

The Congress leadership believed to have weighed the pros and cons of going ahead with the deal in view of the Left's strident opposition.

The four Left parties, CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc, who are extending crucial outside to the UPA coalition have virtually put the government on notice with the demand that further action on implementation of the 123 agreement including talks with IAEA and NSG should not be taken.

Senior ministers Shivraj Patil, AK Antony, Arjun Singh also attended the meeting.