Wait, I don't get this. The Left will pull down the government only after the deal is approved. Since this is a bilateral international treaty, it does not need parliament's approval. The Left does not form part of the cabinet. So the cabinet has no opposition and can easily approve this deal. Further more, as Dr. Elberadei (not sure of spelling) said, and emergency session of the IAEA can be called to approve a safe guards agreement. And he said that a safeguards agreement can be worked out in a matter of 1 week to 10 days. So even if the Left pull down the government, Dr. Manmohan Singh will be the caretaker prime minister for next 1 month until the national polls. So what I am saying is that the deal and the IAEA approval can still be achieved at the sacrifice of the government. And this type of action will earn Dr. Manmohan Singh so much national respect that the congress cannot afford to let him go regardless of their dislike. Basically it will guarantee a UPA win at the polls. And he will get another mandate for 5 years. Why is Manmohan backing down? The way I see it, he is holding all the aces in this game. He should forget Gandhi loyalty and go at it alone. He will become an instant national hero.
