BJP says CPI forgetting it's Indian, not Chinese party

New Delhi, Jun 15 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today took exception to CPI general secretary A B Bardhan's remark that the Indo-US nuclear deal was an attempt to make India a US outpost against China, saying the CPI in ''its over-enthusiasm'' towards the Communist country seemed to have forgotten that ''it was not a Chinese but an Indian political party''.

''Ever since the idea of the nuclear deal has been mooted, the Left Front parties have consistently indicated that they are more concerned about protecting China's interests than our own national and strategic interests,'' party national president Rajnath Singh said in a statement here.

He claimed that the Left parties were trying to politicise the issue in an attempt to regain political relevance and losing mass support, added that, however, in the process they were exposing their true colours and cross border affiliations before the public.

Asserting that the BJP was the only political party to have opposed the proposed nuclear deal on purely ''nationalistic grounds,'' he said instead of properly addressing the nationalist concerns being raised by his party, the UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh and its allies were engaging in regular bouts of verbal boxing through the media and in the public domain despite it jeopardising India's long-term and strategic relations with both the US and China.

The BJP leader went on to add that ''I am sure that the UPA government will not be able to move a single step in any direction, be it the nuclear deal or any other issue, as not only their policies and decisions but even their dreams are being held hostage by the Left parties.'' His party, which was playing the role of a constructive opposition party, had vociferously protested against certain provisions of the proposed deal that could jeopardise the country's long-term strategic sovereignty and interests, he pointed out.

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