New Delhi, October 20
Mounting pressure on the government, the Left parties today asked it to declare that the Indo-US nuclear deal is ‘off’ when the UPA-Left committee meets on Monday.

Making it clear that they are not going to wait ‘indefinitely’, the Left parties said a clear-cut response from the government was essential to ‘end the controversy’ on the agreement.

"We do not know what exactly the UPA representatives will tell us. But what we expect is that they should clearly say that the deal is off or that it has been put on hold. Only then the controversy will end," CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan told PTI.

The comments came amid mixed signals from the Centre on the accord.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asserted last week that his was not ‘a one issue government’, saying that failure of the deal would not be ‘the end of life’.

However, on Thursday, Singh said he was still hopeful on the deal and reconciliation efforts were underway.

Bardhan said the government as also the UPA allies have taken cognizance of the Left stand that the deal should not be operationalised till all their concerns are adequately allayed.

"As far as we are concerned, our stand is clear. We think the government has also to some extent realised it. The allies have also realised it. Therefore, they were compelled to say that it is not a one-issue government," the CPI leader said.

Bardhan further said, "If the Government feels that it is not a one-issue government, then it should not make it (the nuclear deal) the sole issue for deciding its fate".

The ruling Congress has maintained that the accord is alive and does not need any life support, keeping the suspense on the issue that has reached a make or break point.

The meeting on Monday is expected to be the last of the UPA-Left Coordination Committee, set up to look into implications of the deal in the wake of Left opposition to it. — PTI