General parliamentary elections aren’t due until 2009, but a special session of India’s legislature is to meet in New Delhi on Monday. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) which was supporting the government from the outside, has withdrawn support in light of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision to forge ahead with the next steps on US-India Civilian Nuclear Agreement.
A small regional party in Uttar Pradesh has stepped forward to support the government. As a result of frenetic dealing and negotations, it seems that Dr. Singh and his “UPA” alliance have mustered enought votes to survive the expected “no-confidence” vote which is expected to the primary agenda item of the special session in New Delhi.
The first steps to the Nuclear agreement were signed in 2005, but its passage on both American and India sides has been fraught with questions. Additional hurdles remain inside and outside of India. But this current crisis is the most serious challenge so far.
Stay tuned for some excitement; nothing is final in India until it’s final.
