From correspondents in Delhi, India, 07:01 PM IST

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan was having his Spartan lunch in the party office canteen and sharing nuggets of the press conference he addressed Thursday with Prakash Karat, with his comrades.

Much of the conversation veered around to the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukheree and his flip-flops over the nuclear deal safeguards. 'How does he (Mukherjee) continue after this?' asked a CPI comrade.

But it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's sudden bout of 'aggression' in going ahead with the deal that seemed to have surprised teh CPI general secretary most.

'He is normally not like this,' said Bardhan who always got a phone call from Manmohan Singh on his birthday.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)