Special: The Indo-US nuclear deal explained

This is the first meeting between the two leaders after the recent political developments that saw Mayawati withdrawing support to the government followed by the Left last week.

After the 45-minutes meeting, the Marxist leader hailed Mayawati's opposition to the nuclear deal and said the two parties would cooperate in the 'struggle' against the agreement.

"We wanted the two parties cooperate in the struggle against the government," Karat said in apparent reference to the trust vote being sought by the Manmohan Singh [Images] ministry.

While the Left has 59 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the BSP has 17.

Karat had on July 11 said he was in touch with 'all parties', which can take a stand against the deal, an issue on which the Left parties withdrew support to the government reducing it to a minority.

Mayawati has so far declined to divulge her strategy on the trust vote but there were reports that she was attempting to woo several SP and Congress MPs in UP into her fold to vote against the government in the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha.

Mayawati has been increasingly attacking the Centre in the wake of her arch detractor Samajwadi Party joining hands with Congress over the issue of the nuclear deal which the BSP is dubbed it as 'anti-Muslim'.

On Saturday, she had hit out at the Centre for 'targeting' her after the Central Bureau of Investigation issued a fresh affidavit in a disproportionate assets case.

She had accused the Congress of "targeting" her at the behest of Samajwadi Party, a charge dismissed by the ruling party.

In the Lok Sabha, which has an effective strength of 543, the ruling side has to cross the halfway mark of 272 to prove a simple majority.

The ruling UPA has an assured support of 221 MPs belonging to alliance partners, which includes the Congress' 153, RJD's 24, DMK's 16 and NCP's 11. The five-MP JMM, although an ally of UPA, has not yet revealed its cards.



© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.