India's nuke deal with US should be more transparent:Rajnath

Kolkata, Apr 16 (UNI) BJP president Rajnath Singh today called for greater transparency in India's recent nuclear deal with the US and said that it should be at par with China in all aspects.

Speaking to newspersons at a Meet-the-Press programme, organised by Kolkata Press Club here, the BJP president also hinted that India should consider backing out from the deal if the US refused to grant equal status in terms of nuclear facilities to both India and China.

Alleging that the UPA government was deliberately suppressing several important factors in the deal with the USA from the Opposition, Mr Singh said the BJP, as the main Opposition party, would not condon it.

Asked what steps the party was considering if their demands were not met, Mr Singh spoke about an intensive nationwide agitation. He, however, refused to elaborate on the exact nature of the BJP's protest.

The BJP chief was also very critical of the role of the UPA government in properly tackling the growing menace of terrorism.

Charging the Union government with being ''soft'' on terrorism, Mr Singh said had the UPA government not withdrwn the POTA, one of the most effective anti-terrorist acts, the situation would not have gone so far.

Citing the recent examples of serial blasts in Benaras' Sankot Mochan Temple and Delhi's Jama Masjid, Mr Singh urged the Centre to reintroduce POTA.

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