The Hindu : National : “Congress confident of getting 280 plus”

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National

“Congress confident of getting 280 plus”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi on Thursday said the government remained steadfast in its commitment to seek a vote of confidence in Parliament before attending the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to consider the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.

Briefing reporters here, Mr. Ravi, however, could not provide a date for the special session of Parliament, stating that a decision would be taken only after consulting other constituents of the United Progressive Alliance. As for the numbers, he was confident of getting “280 plus” but refused to divulge details.

As to why the government sent the safeguards agreement to the IAEA Board when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday the UPA would press on with the implementation of the deal only after winning a vote of confidence, he said this was the only way to make the draft public.

Referring to the Left parties’ criticism of the government’s refusal to publicise the draft, Mr. Ravi said: “Motives were attached to our position and we had to counter these allegations with some kind of action. Since the rules mandate that the draft can be made public only after it is circulated within the Board of Governors, we exercised this option and then posted it on the website.”

Another reason, according to him, was the constraints of time. “Since certain amount of time is needed to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors, we had to do this,” the Minister said, adding that the entire situation evolved rather fast.

Meanwhile, preparing for the floor test, Mr. Ravi has sent out SMSs to all UPA MPs asking them to remain in the country till July 22.

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