BJP asks govt not to go ahead with Indo-US nuclear deal
New Delhi (PTI): Claiming that the government stood completely "isolated" on the Indo-US nuclear deal after the debate in Parliament, BJP on Friday asked the Congress-led coalition not to proceed with the agreement.
"When MPs of NDA, Left and UNPA 'voted with their feet', particularly in the Rajya Sabha, dissatisfied with the government reply, almost two-thirds of the House got emptied, clearly revealing the sense of the House on the deal," senior leader BJP L K Advani .
The Leader of the Opposition said the debate also "exposed the isolation" of Congress as even its allies in the UPA put up an "indifferent" and "half-hearted" defence of the deal.
He regretted that the discussion on the deal in Parliament was not held under a rule that entails voting.
Advani said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should stick to his earlier commitment that he would go ahead with the deal only if consensus was there in Parliament as it was supreme.
"I demand that the government should not proceed on this issue," he said.
Advani said the debate on the nuclear deal also exposed the CPI(M)'s "hypocrisy" as it was "content to bark without biting", a strategy the party has perfected in the last three years.
He said the winter session of Parliament5 has "thorougly exposed the fissures and the farcical nature of the ruling coalition".
"Never before had NDA so clearly succeeded in cornering both Congress and Communists, separately as well as jointly... Never before had UPA government's opportunistic alliance been completely exposed," he said.
