Karat hopes UPA coalition lasts its full term

In the midst of a stand-off with the United Progressive Alliance on the India-United States nuclear agreement, Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Friday expressed hope that the Congress-led alliance will last its full term.

Appearing at a public platform, Karat did not make any reference to the stand-off, but made a veiled reference to the issue, reminding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he had earlier said that the UPA was not a one-issue government.

While inaugurating a seminar in New Delhi, he spoke of the commercialisation of education and asked organisations like the Students Federation of India to counter such trends.

"I am hoping that the government will continue its full term. We are trying to make serious efforts. Sometime back, the Prime Minister had said that this was not a one-issue government," Karat said.

The CPI-M leader's comments come against the backdrop of the Left parties' serious opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal, in the context of government's determination to push it ahead at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We hope that the government will fulfill its commitments," the CPI-M leader said.

While the Left have threatened to withdraw support if the government took the next step to finalise the India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA, the UPA partners have come out supporting the deal with a rider that any decision on it should not lead to early elections.