Bundle of lies, half-truths: BJP

Dubbing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement in Parliament as a "bundle of same untruths, half-truths and pure white lies", the BJP on Monday made it clear that it would fight Indo-US nuclear deal in and outside Parliament.

The main Opposition party was particularly agitated by Singh's statement outside Parliament that the deal could not be renegotiated, even before Parliament could discuss it. To rally forces against the deal, it was trying to rope in the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) as well as Left Front partners supporting the UPA Government.

"The Prime Minister has reduced Parliament to a farce, if the deal is signed, sealed and etched in stone, why does he want Parliament to go through the charade of a debate on it?" asked former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and BJP leader Arun Shourie in a joint statement, issued within minutes of the Prime Minister's statement in Parliament.

The BJP has already served notices in both the Houses demanding debate with voting and Leader of Opposition LK Advani talked to CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Monday to explore the possibility of joint action in both the Houses.

"We are in touch with leaders of the Left as well as United National Progressive Alliance to find out how the mood of the majority of Parliament members could be translated into action," Sinha told mediapersons, while presenting the BJP's structured response.

Advani and other NDA leaders have made a fresh request to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to allow a discussion on the deal under Rule 184 that entails a vote.

A separate notice has also been sent to Rajya Sabha Secretariat for a similar discussion. "We are in touch with leaders of all political parties (opposed to the deal) for floor coordination," Sinha said.

He rejected the Prime Minister's statement in Parliament on the deal as a "bundle of same untruths, half-truths and pure white lies" that he alleged has been "dishing out day in and day out".

Sinha and his party colleague Arun Shourie claimed that a majority of the Lok Sabha members were opposed to the deal and cited walkouts by CPI(M) and protests by others over it in both the Houses during Singh's statement.

"As the principal opposition, floor coordination on such issues is our responsibility, which we will carry out," Sinha remarked.

The BJP leader, who maintained that the agreement would impact India's strategic and research and development programmes, said his party would keep opposing it both in and outside Parliament.

"Nothing could be more humiliating for Parliament of India than this statement (of the Prime Minister)," he said, referring to the opposition of the NDA, the Left and the UNPA to the pact.

"It's very astonishing that the person with whom honesty is associated indulges in tricks of words," Shourie said, insisting the Prime Minister made no mention of the India-specific Hyde Act in his statement.

The BJP insisted that the Hyde Act will restrict India's nuclear testing programmes once the deal becomes operational.

Sinha and Shourie also accused Singh of breaking parliamentary privileges for his comments in the press, while the session was on, over the nuclear agreement.

"He committed a grave impropriety when, after the session of Parliament had begun, he made statements on the nuclear deal outside Parliament. His statement that the deal is signed and sealed and could not be re-negotiated has already made a mockery of the debate in Parliament on the issue," Sinha said.

The BJP leaders insisted the US Congress was required to separately pass a waiver Act to enable the administration to waive the application of certain provisions of its 1954 atomic energy law while signing such an agreement.

"In the case of India, this waiver Act is the Hyde Act of 2006. The Prime Minister has conveniently ignored the sequence of legislative actions in the US and has pretended in his statement as if the Hyde Act does no exist. This is nothing but an ostrich-like attitude," they said in their joint statement.

Sinha and Shourie maintained that the US has given no assurance to India with regard to fuel supply and reprocessing. "The deal as concluded militates against our national interest," they said, pointing out that the US "retains its right to seek the return of nuclear material and equipment supplied to India under this agreement."