A senior Congress leader said that if the Left withdrew support to the Government over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the UPA could become a lame duck government but would continue to survive. However, he said, if the Government backtracked on its commitment to the deal under Left pressure, the regime would have a trying time facing the people in India and abroad. “We will be a dead duck government,” he intoned. “It is better to be a lame duck government than a dead duck government.”