Opp ups ante against UPA on N-deal again

Political Bureau
Posted: Friday, Sep 05, 2008 at 2320 hrs IST
Updated: Friday, Sep 05, 2008 at 2320 hrs IST

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Nuclear energy to meet rising needs, says PM

New Delhi, Sep 4: The UPA regime came under heavy fire from the Opposition on the US disclosures on the nuclear deal with both the Left as well as the BJP on Thursday demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation and immediate convening of Parliament to move a ‘no confidence motion’ against the government.

Accusing the Prime Minister of misleading Parliament and the nation on the nuclear deal, the BJP said it wanted to move a privilege motion against the government and would not want to wait till October 17 when Parliament is to be convened.

The CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, on the other hand, demanded a fresh session for moving a no-confidence motion against the government.

UPA managers went on a damage control mode, saying there was nothing new in the disclosures and that India was bound only by the bilateral 123 Agreement, but the explanation was rejected by the Opposition. From the government’s side, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) as well as some of the senior ministers sought to allay fears over India’s future rights saying that New Delhi reserved the right to conduct a nuke test and was not bound by any pronouncements other than the 123 Agreement.

‘‘We cannot go beyond our commitment to Parliament, commitment made by the Prime Minister and commitment made by ourselves. Therefore, whatever we have committed to it, it will have to achieved within that,’’ external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee told All India Radio.

That the government, however, was in an embarrassing situation was evident when even the Samajwadi party, the newest ally of the UPA government, refused to back the government saying it is in a ‘‘dilemma’’ over the disclosures and that its leader Mulayam Singh Yadav would be seeking clarifications from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Addressing a press conference here, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said: ‘‘The Manmohan Singh government has no business to continue in office and should leave immediately’’. Backing Sinha, Karat said ‘‘The only option left to them (UPA) is that the Prime Minister should quit. But neither will they convene Parliament session, nor will they quit. .. It is a shameless government.’’

The Left parties, BSP, TDP, JD(S) and parties which opposed the deal would jointly meet President Pratibha Patil in the next couple of days to demand immediate convening of the monsoon session of Parliament.

The CPI too launched a sharp attack on the UPA government on the issue. ‘‘It is abundantly clear that all the assurances regarding India’s right to conduct tests, supply of fuel in perpetuity and chance of getting sensitive technology for reprocessing and enrichment were baseless,’’ the CPI Central Secretariat said in a statement. It said the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance to Parliament on the issue ‘‘had no legal basis. Prime Minister willingly or otherwise has misled the Parliament.’’

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