Karat denies threatening elections on N-deal issue

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday denied reports that he had threatened elections on the issue of the Indo-US nuclear deal and felt such reports in recent days were an attempt to create an "atmosphere of insecurity" about the Centre.

Referring to an interview carried by India Today news magazine, he said certain remarks were attributed to him which he had not made.

"The alleged remarks that "if this is the issue they want to break up with us on, all political parties need to be prepared for elections anytime" were not made by me," the leader said.

"I had given written answers to the questions by the magazine. The transcripts are available," he said.

Karat said, "Such reports surfacing in sections of the media in recent days are calculated to create an atmosphere of insecurity about the Central government."

"It is also a deliberate attempt to impair relations between Left and the UPA. It is significant that such reports are appearing on the eve of the polling for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections," he added.