New Delhi, Oct. 3: The roles have reversed: the Congress is talking tough and the Left is practising restraint on the nuclear deal.

The Congress today asserted that it would not “capitulate”. “There is no question of capitulating before anybody. We are hopeful that we will be able to convince our allies and supporters of the importance of the nuclear deal for our country, especially in terms of civilian energy,” party spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said.

A cabinet minister later clarified that “on our part, we don’t want to intensify the acrimony”.

“We respect the ethics of coalition and would rather wait until October 5 (when the UPA-Left nuclear coordination panel meets) to see how things play out,” the minister added.

The CPM indicated it would reciprocate the sentiment. General secretary Prakash Karat said in Bhopal that efforts were on to “reach a consensus” with the UPA government when the panel meets for the next two rounds of talks.

He also obliquely contradicted his politburo colleague M.K. Pandhe’s interpretation of the Congress president’s comment in New York where she said the Left’s concerns on the deal were not a “cause for alarm”.

While Pandhe saw it as an expression of the UPA’s intent to go ahead with operationalising the deal, Karat’s take was: “She has said nothing wrong. She said there are issues on which discussions are going on. We have to respect different views....”

Karat has been observing restraint in public since last week’s confabulations of his party in Calcutta, where the Bengal unit is learnt to have advised caution on forcing early polls.

Congress sources, however, said they were “circumspect” about Karat’s statements and will not “get swayed by them”.

“The Left’s base line remains the same although we can’t understand why the leaders keep changing the goalpost. One day they talk of moving a no-trust vote against the government in the winter session (of Parliament) and then they say they want a debate. We hope they make up their mind before Friday,” a cabinet minister said.

The sources said the Congress has dug its heels in for three reasons:

• The initial confusion and shock has given way to a sense of resolve about facing early elections.

• Rahul Gandhi’s induction as a general secretary had galvanised the party apparatus “enough” to start the “race”, said a functionary. “The rest can follow. No one is saying it’s going to be a cakewalk. Who knows price rise may be the main issue. But elections have to be fought and we are ready.”

• It will be a “huge disaster” to freeze or dump the deal. “Willy-nilly, it has become a national issue. I have been clarifying doubts and answering questions endlessly on it and my feedback is positive,” said a Lok Sabha MP from the capital.

• “If the Congress and this government have any credibility left, what remains will be totally destroyed if they backtrack,” he added.

• It is pointless to run a government hanging on the Left’s leash. “We don’t want a lame-duck government,” said a minister.