07-21-2008, 05:25 PM
<b>N-deal has made India subservient, says Advani</b>
New Delhi (PTI): Holding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directly responsible for the present political crisis, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani today said the Indo-US nuclear deal has become an agreement between two individuals making India "subservient" and a "junior partner".
"UPA is like a patient in the ICU room. The first question everyone asks is whether he is going to survive or not," Advani said in a scatching attack on the Prime Minister and the ruling UPA coalition.
Speaking on the confidence motion moved by the Prime Minister, the BJP leader accused the Prime Minister of having opposed the 1998 Pokhran II tests, triggering an immediate rebuttal by Singh who said he had only spoken about sanctions and whether the country was prepared for it.
Advani referred to "sharp exchanges" during that period in Rajya Sabha between Singh and late BJP leader K R Malkani but the Prime Minister retorted saying let any objective person read the proceedings and draw his own conclusions.
Singh said his remarks on the tests and the criticisms were made in the context of sanctions imposed on India after the tests and also in the light of India's stand on non-proliferation.
The BJP leader said the present situation was entirely brought about by Singh and not precipitated by opposition NDA or even Left parties.
He said people would decide in the next elections "even if the Governemnt survives tomorrow".
Advani said Singh had sparked the political impasse with his interview to a Kolkata newspaper where he had said that if the Left parties want to withdraw support, "so be it".
"If the Governemnt was so serious about the (nuclear) deal, why is it not mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme or even the Congres manifesto. It is a kind of an agreement between two individuals and one happens to be the Prime Minister," the BJP leader said.
Attacking the Governemnt for speaking in "different voices", Advani said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had assured the Left parties that India would approach the IAEA for the safeguards agreement only after getting the approval of Parliament.
But the Prime Minister had chosen to give a different line and suddenly the draft agreement was sent to the nuclear watchdog, he said.
Unequal deal
The draft text was described as "privileged" and "classified" but it was circulated to IAEA members first.
"I have never seen a Governemnt paralysed for so long" with nothing else but the deal, Advani said.
He said BJP was not against forging close relations with the US but was against India being party to a deal which was "unequal".
"If people vote NDA back to power, we will renegotiate the deal to make it equal and ensure that there are no constraints on our strategic autonomy," the BJP leader said.
"I don't agree with the Left. We differ very widely on various issues. But if the Governemnt is destablised after four years and two months... and faces the likelihood of being voted out... then this situation has been brought about not by the opposition NDA or even the Leftists," Advani said.
PM responsible
"This has been invited by the Governemnt itself, and Mr Prime Minister, I am sorry to say, by you personally," he said, adding that even Left parties "wanted to prolong" it.
"Please don't blame anyone else. It is your Governemnt and in a way you, personally, and even the Congress President without whom you would not take a single step is to be blamed. The opposition has played no role in this," Advani said, claiming that his party would strive to "defeat the Governemnt on the floor of the House".
He drew a distinction between defeating the Governemnt and destablising it by saying "it is not in our nature to destabilise Governemnts. You may do it with Chandrashekhar's Governemnt or those of H D Deve Gowda or I K Gujral.
"Even the Vajpayee Governemnt was destabilised with the help of a member who was made the Chief Minister of a state," Advani said apparently referring to the vote by Giridhar Gamang in during the 1999 trust vote.
Maintaining that he had seen several "short-lived" and "unstable" Governemnts in the past, the Opposition leader said "but I have never seen a Governemnt so paralysed" that it pays no heed to the people's problems.
New Delhi (PTI): Holding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directly responsible for the present political crisis, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani today said the Indo-US nuclear deal has become an agreement between two individuals making India "subservient" and a "junior partner".
"UPA is like a patient in the ICU room. The first question everyone asks is whether he is going to survive or not," Advani said in a scatching attack on the Prime Minister and the ruling UPA coalition.
Speaking on the confidence motion moved by the Prime Minister, the BJP leader accused the Prime Minister of having opposed the 1998 Pokhran II tests, triggering an immediate rebuttal by Singh who said he had only spoken about sanctions and whether the country was prepared for it.
Advani referred to "sharp exchanges" during that period in Rajya Sabha between Singh and late BJP leader K R Malkani but the Prime Minister retorted saying let any objective person read the proceedings and draw his own conclusions.
Singh said his remarks on the tests and the criticisms were made in the context of sanctions imposed on India after the tests and also in the light of India's stand on non-proliferation.
The BJP leader said the present situation was entirely brought about by Singh and not precipitated by opposition NDA or even Left parties.
He said people would decide in the next elections "even if the Governemnt survives tomorrow".
Advani said Singh had sparked the political impasse with his interview to a Kolkata newspaper where he had said that if the Left parties want to withdraw support, "so be it".
"If the Governemnt was so serious about the (nuclear) deal, why is it not mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme or even the Congres manifesto. It is a kind of an agreement between two individuals and one happens to be the Prime Minister," the BJP leader said.
Attacking the Governemnt for speaking in "different voices", Advani said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had assured the Left parties that India would approach the IAEA for the safeguards agreement only after getting the approval of Parliament.
But the Prime Minister had chosen to give a different line and suddenly the draft agreement was sent to the nuclear watchdog, he said.
Unequal deal
The draft text was described as "privileged" and "classified" but it was circulated to IAEA members first.
"I have never seen a Governemnt paralysed for so long" with nothing else but the deal, Advani said.
He said BJP was not against forging close relations with the US but was against India being party to a deal which was "unequal".
"If people vote NDA back to power, we will renegotiate the deal to make it equal and ensure that there are no constraints on our strategic autonomy," the BJP leader said.
"I don't agree with the Left. We differ very widely on various issues. But if the Governemnt is destablised after four years and two months... and faces the likelihood of being voted out... then this situation has been brought about not by the opposition NDA or even the Leftists," Advani said.
PM responsible
"This has been invited by the Governemnt itself, and Mr Prime Minister, I am sorry to say, by you personally," he said, adding that even Left parties "wanted to prolong" it.
"Please don't blame anyone else. It is your Governemnt and in a way you, personally, and even the Congress President without whom you would not take a single step is to be blamed. The opposition has played no role in this," Advani said, claiming that his party would strive to "defeat the Governemnt on the floor of the House".
He drew a distinction between defeating the Governemnt and destablising it by saying "it is not in our nature to destabilise Governemnts. You may do it with Chandrashekhar's Governemnt or those of H D Deve Gowda or I K Gujral.
"Even the Vajpayee Governemnt was destabilised with the help of a member who was made the Chief Minister of a state," Advani said apparently referring to the vote by Giridhar Gamang in during the 1999 trust vote.
Maintaining that he had seen several "short-lived" and "unstable" Governemnts in the past, the Opposition leader said "but I have never seen a Governemnt so paralysed" that it pays no heed to the people's problems.