The Hindu : National : UNPA to put up united opposition in Parliament against nuclear deal

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Friday, Aug 03, 2007
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UNPA to put up united opposition in Parliament against nuclear deal

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) on Tuesday criticised the India-U.S. nuclear deal and said it would result in “mortgaging India’s sovereignty.”

The UNPA would oppose the deal and would raise other burning issues in the coming session of Parliament. All leaders of the eight-party coalition and its Parliamentary Board would meet in New Delhi on the eve of the monsoon session of Parliament on August 9 and chalk out a floor strategy. The meeting would reiterate the UNPA’s joint support to their vice-presidential candidate, Rasheed Masood.

“The BJP has failed to provide an effective opposition to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Both, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the UPA are pro-U.S. The UNPA will put up a united front against the anti-people policies of the government in Parliament,” said Samajwadi Party general secretary and member of the UNPA, Amar Singh.

Demanding the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy over police firing on innocent people at Khammam, he also called upon the Left parties to bring pressure on the UPA government at the Centre to dismiss the State Government.

Mr. Singh criticised the Congress central leadership for not condemning the incident and giving a “clean chit” to the State Government. To a question about the police action in Nandigram in West Bengal, he said both the incidents could not be compared as in West Bengal arch political rivals — Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Jyoti Basu and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee — held discussions and Communist Party of India leader A.B. Bardhan criticised the police action.

He said he was not justifying Nandigram and Singur incidents, but while in West Bengal senior CPI (M) leaders had described them as “unfortunate,” in Andhra Pradesh it was being defended as the right action by dubbing the innocent victims as “Maoists.” To another question he said the UNPA was united in voting for Mr. Masood, who is their own candidate, for the office of the Vice-President.

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