Allies put pressure on Congress ahead of poll

might have hoped for accolades after winning approval for the Indo-American nuclear deal. He did not get it. The harassed economist prime minister might have wanted some breathing space to handle the fallout of the conflagration raging through the stock exchanges of the world. He is unlikely to get that wish. Frankly, the root of the prime minister's problems lie with his dear allies in the United Progressive Alliance rather than with the official Opposition. With a general election around the corner -- due in six months or fewer -- senior allies have begun making a series of impossible demands. "If the atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils does not stop we must answer the question 'Do we need this government?"," the chief minister of Tamil Nadu thundered. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo answered his own question by... [read full story]