Nuke deal: BJP sees strong possibilities of mid-term polls

New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI) With the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government 'paralysed' due to the Left parties' ultimatum against the Indo-US Nuclear deal, the BJP today said a mid-term poll was a very 'strong possibility'.

BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said top BJP leaders met at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take stock of the latest political situation.

The meeting was attended by L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, BJP President Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, V K Malhotra, Arun Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie.

The NDA leaders will meet tomorrow morning to give final shape to the Opposition strategy in Parliament at the Chambers of Leader of Opposition L K Advani. A united decision will be taken by them, he said, answering questions about the nuclear deal.

The BJP, he said, was the first to raise apprehensions when the issue was discussed and Mr Vajpayee had demanded a thorough debate in Parliament as promised by the Prime Minister.

BJP wants the government to perform in the best interests of the country, he said. But the ruling coalition has turned to be pack of contradictory forces right from day one, he added.

The BJP and the opposition NDA parties were naturally 'concerned' about the developments within the ruling coalition. The BJP had always talked of joining hands with anybody in national interests and it was the first to caution the government against compromising on the same. The Communists were only talking now, he added.

If the UPA government is to fall, it is because of its own folly and the 'reality of the situation' points that the country is heading towards a mid-term poll, although it was difficult to read the mind of the Left parties which said one thing but did something else, Mr Naqvi said.

To a question about the Prime Minister alleging that some BJP leaders were performing 'havans' seeking his death on a particular day, Mr Naqvi said the statement depicted the Prime Minister's state of mind.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the Left parties lacked credibility because of their 'double talk', be it regarding airport modernisation in the past or the Indo-US Nuclear deal now.

The party will go ahead with its farmers rally tomorrow at Ramlila Ground to highlight the injustice caused by the UPA government by denying fair returns to them.

Despite promises of helping the common man, the UPA government was only helping foreign farmers by resorting to imports, he alleged.

Several senior leaders including Mr Vajpayee, Mr Advani and Mr Singh will address the rally.

UNI