Govt 'indifferent' to opposition to nuclear deal:BJP

New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today expressed its concern over the UPA's ''indifference'' to the Opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal by the majority of members of Parliament.

The BJP Parliamentary Party, which met here under the chairmanship of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani this morning, regretted the Government was not paying any heed to the aversion to the deal by nearly 65 per cent of MPs.

The party is in touch with other political parties, opposed to the deal, to garner support for its demand for a discussion over the issue under Rule 184, which entails voting.

Yesterday, Mr Advani had spoken to CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and some other leaders in this connection.

Talking to newspersons, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman V K Malhotra said the BJP was contacting other parties on the matter, urging them to vote against the deal, if they sincerely felt that the 123 Agreement, which would be guided by the Hyde Act passed by the US Congress in December 2006, was against the national interest and would undermine the country's nuclear sovereignty. The issue is scheduled to come up in the Lok Sabha next week.

The meeting also expressed its serious concern over the killing of Hindi speaking people in Assam and decided to send a fact-finding team on a two-day visit to the state.

Mr Malhotra alleged it was a conspiracy hatched by ULFA and state government to terrorise Hindi speaking people so that they flee the state to make room for rehabilitation of Bangladeshis being evicted from Arunachal Pradesh.

UNI