WASHINGTON, March 7: The Bush administration will try to seek congressional endorsement for the nuclear deal it signed with India last week before this fall’s midterm congressional elections, diplomatic sources said.

Opinion polls and political analysts predict a weakening of the Republican hold on both houses of the US Congress in the next elections, scheduled for Nov 7 and that’s why the Bush administration wants congressional approval for the nuclear deal before the elections.

The Indian lobby in Washington, however, is urging the Bush administration to further expedite the process and get a congressional approval before May when the 45-nation Nuclear Supplier’s Group is expected to take up the exemptions granted to India in the accord.

Once Congress approves the deal, India and the US will then sign a bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation agreement following which fuel supply to India’s Tarapur nuclear facility can begin.

This would end decades of nuclear isolation for India, which was placed under international sanctions after conducting nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998. But even President Bush, in his speech at the Red Fort last week, admitted that it would not be easy to get congressional approval for the Indo-US nuclear agreement.