Left MPs to walk out of LS on nuke deal issue : Basu

Kolkata, Aug 10 (UNI) CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu today said the Left party MPs would walk out of the Lok Sabha in the event of a voting on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

'' We will walk out in the event of a voting, '' he told reporters when asked whether Left parties would vote against the pact, joining hands with the BJP.

He made the comment when the BJP, also opposing the 123 Agreement, was planning to seek debate on the issue in Parliament under a rule that could lead to voting.

Observing that the nuke deal would benefit only the US, and not India, Mr Basu said Left leaders had already spoken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing their reservation.

'' The Prime Minister has said he would try to convince us regarding our concern about the deal. We want that it should be discussed in Parliament, '' he said after attending the CPI(M) state Secretariat meeting.

Describing the agreement as a threat to the country's sovereign foreign policy, the Left parties had already demanded that the Congress-led UPA government put a brake on its implementation.

CPI(M) General Secretry Prakash Karat had said the party was ''unable to accept the agreement'' as it ''locked in India into the US global strategic design.'' UNI