Amiable but dogmatic, Karat -- nicknamed the "Red Czar" for his opinions -- has caught the government of Manmohan Singh off-guard with his anti-US stance on the landmark agreement.

"The Manmohan Singh government should decide whether it wants to be with the people of India or the imperialist US," he said earlier this week.

"The agreement will bind India to the United States in a manner that will seriously impair an independent foreign policy and our strategic autonomy."

The pact seeks to bring India into the loop of global atomic commerce after a gap of three decades while also binding the country closer to Washington.

Singh argues that India cannot sustain the blistering pace of its economic growth -- currently nine percent -- without greater access to nuclear energy sources.

In a political gamble, he has dared the Left to withdraw its support, even though the communists help prop up his minority Congress coalition government in parliament.

It has left him facing his biggest test since taking power in 2004.

But Karat, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI-M, shows little sign of giving way.

The quiet-spoken Karat opposes "imperialism" and as "the US is the world's biggest 'imperialist power,' the party line has to be argued," says Business Standard political columnist Aditi Phadnis.

Karat is one half of India's so-called "Red Power couple" of the Left.

Married to Brinda Karat, another member of the policy-making politburo, the pair decided not to have children but to devote their lives to the party.

Brinda, known for her signature handloom saris and silver bangles, dislikes discussion of their relationship, dismissing personal questions with a snort of derision.

Karat manages party affairs while the telegenic Brinda is often seen in TV studios putting across the Marxist viewpoint.

"He's an organisation man and a person of exceptional commitment," said a former communist who knew Karat in his early days with the party.

He was named two years ago to the top party post at 56, a relatively junior age by Indian standards where party leaders can soar into their 70s, 80s or 90s.

Karat is generally considered a puritan Marxist who refuses to countenance any dilution of the party's ideology, and has already forced the government to retreat on a series of economic reforms.

"His mind (is) the last repository of ideological fossil," the leading news magazine India Today noted. "He can't be bullied into moderation."

Karat, who studied political science, first encountered Karl Marx's work at the prestigious Madras Christian College in the 1960s.

He studied briefly abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, and later was a student leader at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.

In 1970, he signed up with the pro-Chinese CPI-M where he climbed the party hierarchy.

Now, with speculation rife over early polls, Karat has been making noises about creating a "third front" in politics outside both Congress and the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is also strongly against the nuclear deal.

It's a high risk gamble for the communist leader, known for his trademark half-sleeve white shirt and beige trousers.

NDTV television commentator Barkha Dutt warns that he might have misjudged the public mood.

"Certainly, our answer can't be based on an ideology that seems immovable, and inflexible -- everything that 'modern India' is not," she said.

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