Crucial UPA-Left meeting today

NEW DELHI: Who will blink first: the Congress or the Left? Chances are one of them might do so today. Though there is no apparent respite in the war of nerves between the Congress and the Left over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the 15-member UPA-Left committee is expected to begin serious discussions on the controversial nuke deal today.

The first two meetings of the committee on September 11 and 19 did not have any concrete discussions, as both the camps were busy exchanging notes and re-stating their known stands on the nuclear deal.

Now, all eyes are on today's meeting which is expected to throw some light over the speculation of a mid-term poll. Time is running out and key UPA ministers have declared that the government is determined to go ahead with the deal for which talks with the IAEA have to begin from mid-October. The Left has refused to budge from its position.

The meeting on Friday may also be inconclusive as the UPA and the Left have fixed another meeting, tentatively on October 14, to take the issue forward. The Left has dispatched another note to committee convenor Pranab Mukherjee on how the deal will impact on "foreign policy" and "energy security". A snap poll may be avoided if the UPA government offers some concessions to the Left on the nuke deal.

Speaking at a gathering of Indian-Americans in New York on Monday, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi admitted there were differences with the Left and sought to play down Left's concerns on the deal.