The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Nuclear deal will not alienate Muslims: Poojary

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Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008
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Nuclear deal will not alienate Muslims: Poojary

Special Correspondent

Says Left, BJP creating confusion

Janardhana Poojary says it is for the people to decide whether the deal is anti-national.

Thiruvananthapuram: Janardhana Poojary, All India Congress Committee coordinator in charge of Kerala, said here on Monday that the signing of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal would not alienate the Muslim community from the Congress.

At a press conference here, Mr. Poojary said that Muslim organisations had welcomed the nuclear deal, as it was in national interest. The Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were creating confusion in the minds of the community and non-resident Indians. He criticised the Left parties for withdrawing their support to the United Progressive Alliance government on the deal, which had not yet been finalised.

“It is for the people to decide whether the nuclear deal is national or anti-national,” he said.

Mr. Poojary said the Left parties had all long been claiming that they had supported the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to keep the communal forces at bay. But during the past several months, they had been acting as if they wanted to go with the communal forces, particularly the BJP.

“This is not something that is new. It had happened in 1977 and 1989, when the Left forces joined hands with the BJP to prop up Ministries at the Centre,” he said.

“We will prove our majority at the trial of strength. If we don’t get the majority, then the deal would automatically come to an end. If the confidence vote is through, then the next government would have to take the deal forward, irrespective of the parties that might come to power.”

In reply to a question, Mr. Poojary said the confidence vote on July 22 would be a game of numbers, as predicting what positions various parties would take was difficult now.

He accused the BJP of double standard in its opposition to the nuclear deal after having initiated the discussions with the U.S. when it was in power heading the National Democratic Alliance. He criticised the Left parties for trying to cooperate with the Bahujan Samaj Party and its leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, after having charged her government with corruption.

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