Govt will not fall over nuclear deal issue: Pawar

PATNA: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the government would not fall on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal despite differences between the Left and the UPA.
 
"Problems do exist between the UPA and Marxists on some provisions of the nuclear deal. They (Left) have voiced some concerns, which we, as the ruling coalition, are obliged to address, but the government will not fall over the issue," he told.
 
Pawar said the UPA-Left committee constituted to iron out the differences had already held four rounds of "good discussions and we hope both sides would amicably and with full responsibility settle the issue in our future meetings".

Asked why then UPA leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan were asking their workers to gear up for a mid-term elections when he did not foresee it, the NCP chief said "being in politics we should always be prepared for elections. Moreover, chances of snap polls are more when a coalition government is in power. But I don't see that happening now."

Referring to the suicide by farmers in several states, including the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Pawar said the government had launched a Rs 16,000 crore programme to improve the financial condition of farmers.

"Though incidence of suicide has come down as compared to three years ago, so long as a single farmer takes his life for non-repayment of a debt there is need for government's intervention," he said.