New Delhi, Sept. 29: As the CPM debated the nuclear deal, the Congress said there had been no “deviation” from the national common minimum programme (NCMP) on the agreement.

Party leader Veerappa Moily, the new head of the Congress’s media cell, today said the common programme was “in pursuance” of his party’s manifesto and the Left had read the document before offering support to the government.

He challenged the Left to work out a “balance sheet of the NCMP” and then “see if there is anything against us”.

Moily said as long as the joint mechanism was discussing the deal, it would be “premature” to speak out on it.

“There is no deviation from the NCMP on the nuclear deal. It is in conformity with the manifesto. The Congress faced the electorate of the country on the basis of the manifesto,” he said.

“As long as the Left continues to support our government, it cannot cut itself off from the NCMP. It is binding on all parties concerned with the government, from inside or outside.”

Moily, a former Karnataka chief minister, said the manifesto was not concealed from CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and his colleagues. “They are well informed. Unless they knew what our manifesto was about, they would not have extended support.”

The understanding, he added, was that the government should continue for the entire term. “They (the Left) suddenly cannot destabilise it because of the charge that there is violation of the NCMP,” Moily said.