Mulayam meets Manmohan, Sonia to finalise deal with Congress

New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) Inching closer to sealing a
deal with the Congress to bail out the Government, Samajwadi
Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav Friday met Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and will later hold parleys with Sonia
Gandhi.

The meeting comes a day after Yadav met former
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who endorsed the Indo-US nuclear
deal, saying it is in the country's national interest.

Congress is seeking the support of the the SP which
has 39 members in the Lok Sabha with the Left allies having 59
members getting ready to withdraw support to the Government if
it went ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal.

On a day on hectic political activities, Yadav and
party general secretary Amar Singh drove to the Race Course
residence of the Prime Minister for talks aimed at clearing
the decks for backing the government in Parliament.

Yadav's praise of Kalam and his statement that he
would carry the former President's views to other constituents
of the UNPA, who are opposed to the deal, is seen as a strong
indication that the SP was not averse to doing a deal with the
Congress-led UPA. PTI