Basu rules out withdrawal of Left support to UPA

CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu on Friday ruled out withdrawal of Left support from the UPA government on the Indo-US nuclear deal issue.

CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu on Friday ruled out withdrawal of Left support from the UPA government on the Indo-US nuclear deal issue despite CPI general secretary AB Bardhan saying that such a move appeared to be "inevitable".

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"My party's Politburo is discussing the Indo-US nuclear deal during which they will finalise their stand. We have already said that we are not satisfied. But we do not want to topple the government as it would pave the way for the communal BJP to come to power," the 94-year-old CPI-M leader told PTI.

"We will stage a walkout in Parliament if there is a voting on the issue," he said.

Basu said he was not attending the Politburo meeting as he was not keeping well.

Asked if prime minister Manmohan Singh had spoken to him, Basu said, "No, he did not".