The Hindu : National : PM, Sonia owe an explanation to nation, says Advani

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Sunday, Oct 14, 2007
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PM, Sonia owe an explanation to nation, says Advani

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani said here on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s criticism of the India-United States nuclear deal sprang from its perception that it would jeopardise the country’s national security.

Commenting on the “U-turn” by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — on Friday he said if the deal does not go through, it will not be the end of life — Mr. Advani said this would “end whatever little legitimacy he had in the high office he occupies.”

Mr. Advani criticised the Prime Minister for refusing to acknowledge that the majority in Parliament was opposed to the deal and said that through the deal India would have been brought via the backdoor into the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime.

According to him both the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi owe an explanation to the country on why they had virtually paralysed the government for three months as a result of their inflexible approach to the deal.

Mr. Advani, who has repeatedly predicted early general elections as a result of the Congress-Left face-off on the deal, suggested that the government would limp on. “The UPA government is at its weakest point now since its inception in May 2004. From now onwards, its journey can only be downhill.”

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