New Delhi: In a shift of stance, the Third Front today appeared to have come closer to the Left parties on the Indo-US nuclear deal demanding that government not go ahead with it if the "mood of Parliament" is against it.

The Front, which was earlier demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the issue like that of the main opposition BJP, said it would now want the government to heed to the mood of Parliament before proceeding in the matter.

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is the convenor of the Front known as United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), told reporters that if the majority in Parliament was against the deal then the government should not go ahead.

The new stance is almost similar to that of the Left parties which have been for taking a sense of Parliament and showed that they do not want to be seen in the company of BJP.

It came on a day when the BJP said that it will press for voting on nuclear deal issue if Parliament session convenes. Reports had it that plans are afoot for a brief winter session soon after Diwali.

Naidu's remarks came after talks with Left leaders -- CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat yesterday and his party colleague Sitaram Yechury, along with CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan and National Secretary D Raja, today.

The TDP chief said the UNPA and the Left parties were together "inside and outside Parliament". He side-stepped questions regarding when the Left which are their "natural allies", will become formally so after parting company with the UPA. 

Source : PTI