Govt gets it Left and Right on nuclear deal in Parliament

The UPA government was virtually isolated in Parliament on Tuesday with the BJP, Left and the UNPA attacking it over the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement during a short duration discussion in Rajya Sabha.

The SP, which was mild in its opposition at Lok Sabha, asserted in the Upper House that the deal is ?not honourable? and the party will oppose it. The Prime Minister (PM) also came under attack for ?not signing a similar deal? with Russia for additional nuclear reactors.

?All this false propaganda that is being made here and outside is not related to the facts of the case,? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, intervening in the debate, when BJP leader Yashwant Sinha alleged that the Prime Minister was under the US pressure. It was also the reason for not signing the deal with Russia for reactors to Koodamkulam, the BJP leader said.

?It has always been understood that the agreements for four additional reactors could be signed only after India got the approval from IAEA for India-specific safeguards and work out with the NSG issues that are under discussion,? the PM retorted.

During the debate, the PM made three brief interventions, in which he also clarified the reason for not attending the Shanghai Cooperation Council. He said, ?All I wanted was that when the Indian Prime Minister goes, he should not sit on the sidelines in the coffee shop, but share the high table.?

In a blow below the belt, the Prime Minister also reminded Sinha that he was even not allowed to meet the then Japanse finance minister when he was the finance minister during the NDA regime during a visit to Tokyo. Earlier, CPI(M)?s leader in the Upper House Sitaram Yechury started the debate by reiterating his party?s stand on the issue. ?The Hyde Act passed by the US Congress is in violation with the Prime Minister?s agreement to this House. We don?t want our Prime Minister to lose his face before this House. So withdraw from operationalising it,? he said. Maintaining that the country is under the ?US pressure,? he said that the deal will not end the nuclear apartheid.

?We request the government not to proceed with an agenda that is not in the Common Minimum Programme. Our support is purely based on the CMP,? the CPI(M) leader said.

SP leader Amar Singh said that ?some corners? tried to propagate that the SP has changed its stand. ?Our views are quite close to that of Left,? he said. The TDP, AIDMK, BSP and the JD(U) also opposed the deal in the House.