07-16-2008, 12:25 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->UPA has only 250 MPs: BJP
Wed, Jul 16 03:20 AM
Sensing that the July 22 trust vote was going to be a touch-and-go affair, the BJP on Tuesday suddenly turned aggressive saying the ruling UPA combine commanded the backing of no more than 250 MPs.
"This Government will not survive the trust vote even when it's indulging in large-scale horse-trading," said BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra, adding many small parties, Independents and even some Congress MPs "were in touch with the BJP".
Asserting that money power "was being used in a big way" to lure Opposition MPs, Malhotra said three top industrialists had only recently visited the PMO in the last few days suggesting all was not well in the ruling combine.
The BJP has, meanwhile, convened a meeting of all its chief ministers on Thursday to discuss the political situation and strategy to keep the NDA flock together. The meeting is likely to be attended by all 12 chief ministers of NDA- ruled states.
The BJP also hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after PMO sources suggested that BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani "had changed his stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal due to pressure from his party". Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu reminded Manmohan Singh that it was he who had reversed his stance on a number of occasions.
"It's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has changed his stand. As a leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, he criticised the NDA government in 1998 in Parliament for Pokharan II. He then wrote a letter to Vajpayeeji in 2007 saying that the NDA had done the right thing (in Pokhran II)," Naidu added.<b>
Among other instances, Naidu said: "Singh had said in an interview to a newspaper that if the Left was against the deal, so be it. Later, he said in a conclave organised by another newspaper that this (UPA) was not a one-issue government. One issue is not the end of life." BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad also questioned the basis of the Samajwadi Party's support to the UPA on the Indo-US nuclear deal.</b>
"Two years ago, US President George Bush had come to India and the SP had then burnt his effigies and held countrywide demonstrations. Now, Amar Singh suddenly finds Advani to be more dangerous than Bush. We would like to congratulate Amar Singh on this turnabout," Prasad said.
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Wed, Jul 16 03:20 AM
Sensing that the July 22 trust vote was going to be a touch-and-go affair, the BJP on Tuesday suddenly turned aggressive saying the ruling UPA combine commanded the backing of no more than 250 MPs.
"This Government will not survive the trust vote even when it's indulging in large-scale horse-trading," said BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra, adding many small parties, Independents and even some Congress MPs "were in touch with the BJP".
Asserting that money power "was being used in a big way" to lure Opposition MPs, Malhotra said three top industrialists had only recently visited the PMO in the last few days suggesting all was not well in the ruling combine.
The BJP has, meanwhile, convened a meeting of all its chief ministers on Thursday to discuss the political situation and strategy to keep the NDA flock together. The meeting is likely to be attended by all 12 chief ministers of NDA- ruled states.
The BJP also hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after PMO sources suggested that BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani "had changed his stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal due to pressure from his party". Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu reminded Manmohan Singh that it was he who had reversed his stance on a number of occasions.
"It's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has changed his stand. As a leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, he criticised the NDA government in 1998 in Parliament for Pokharan II. He then wrote a letter to Vajpayeeji in 2007 saying that the NDA had done the right thing (in Pokhran II)," Naidu added.<b>
Among other instances, Naidu said: "Singh had said in an interview to a newspaper that if the Left was against the deal, so be it. Later, he said in a conclave organised by another newspaper that this (UPA) was not a one-issue government. One issue is not the end of life." BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad also questioned the basis of the Samajwadi Party's support to the UPA on the Indo-US nuclear deal.</b>
"Two years ago, US President George Bush had come to India and the SP had then burnt his effigies and held countrywide demonstrations. Now, Amar Singh suddenly finds Advani to be more dangerous than Bush. We would like to congratulate Amar Singh on this turnabout," Prasad said.
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