At a time when the Congress was cozying up to the Samajwadi Party, with the nuclear deal in mind, Mayawati declared on Saturday that her party Bahujan Samaj party has decided to withdraw support to the UPA Government.
The government doesn't need the BSP to remain in power but it now clearly needs to get the Samajwadi Party on board if it wants to push through the nuclear deal.
''The BSP has decided to withdraw support from the Congress-led UPA Government,'' said Mayawati, president, BSP.
It was coming for a long time but it is the timing that's caught everyone by surprise.
BSP's withdrawal means fresh problems for the Congress when it was engaging in some nuclear hard talk.
Mayawati's decision is a formality, it does not affect the UPA Government in the Lok Sabha one way or another but it will narrow down the options for the Prime Minister on the nuke deal.
The UPA will not only be short of 17 BSP MPs but will also have to heavily depend on Samajwadi Party support in case the Left withdraws support.
''Mayawati's move will have no impact on the UPA Government,'' said Digvijay Singh, general secretary, AICC.
The Left is keeping up the pressure. A CPM statement on Saturday said the Indo-US nuclear deal is not about energy but about strategic ties with the US.
Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is still keen on going ahead with the deal, record inflation has changed everything. All the day, the Prime Minister kept busy from meeting Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy to Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. Taming inflation is now a priority for this government.
Now, the government is talking about a go-slow until September. The idea is to first bring rising prices under control. Then in September go for the next steps in the nuke deal and get the 123 Agreement passed without the 90-day waiting period.
And finally, prepare for elections by December or January next year.
''We are confident of a solution,'' said Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister and NCP Chief.
The focus is now on Manmohan Singh. Will he be persuaded to wait for a couple of months before pushing the deal?
