Baalu meets Sonia, says no early polls

Congress president Sonia Gandhi met Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T R Baalu as part of an exercise to consult the United Progressive Alliance's constituents over the stand-off with the Left on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
    
Emerging from the 30-minute meeting, Baalu said his party was in favour of both "the government as well as the comrades" and ruled out the possibility of early elections. "The discussions will culminate into better prospects only," the DMK leader, who is also the shipping and surface transport minister, told media-persons.
    
Baalu sounded optimistic about the outcome of Wednesday's meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal saying, "If there is any problem there is a solution. Definitely, the government will come out successful in dealing with the problem."
    
Insisting that there was no "imminent threat" to the Congress-led government, Baalu said, "I do not think there will be
any early election."
    
Top leaders of the UPA's  constituents, including Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Lalu Prasad and Lok Janashakti Party's Ram Vilas Paswan, discussed the stalemate on the nuclear deal with Gandhi on Monday evening.
    
The Left parties have ruled out any change in the stand of total opposition to the deal. Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat met Pawar after the NCP chief's meeting with Gandhi and discussed the current situation.