Govt ready to hold debate on Nuclear deal in LS on Monday

New Delhi, Sept 6 (UNI) The Government today slammed the opposition NDA and UNPA for showing ''desperate defiance and aggressive attitude'' in continuing to disrupt the proceedings of Parliament over the Indo-US nuclear deal on a ''specific direction from Chennai'' and said it was ready to hold discussion on the 123 accord in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Reiterating that there would be no JPC constituted on the nuclear deal as being demanded by the Opposition parties, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters here that if the Opposition wanted the government was ready to constitute a committee to clear their specific concerns over some clauses of the deal as it had done in case of the Left parties by constituting a 15-member UPA-Left panel.

He said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has already conveyed to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha about it and both of them had said they would consult the NDA on the issue and then convey the decision. However, they had yet to get back and inform the government about their stand, and the Opposition continued to stall the proceedings of the House, he said.

Hitting out at the Opposition for not allowing the discussion on the nuclear deal in the Upper House today despite it being listed by the Rajya Sabha Chairman by taking up the old bogey of JPC, he said in case of the Lok Sabha disruption was caused by the BJP to prevent discussion on Sachar Committee report.

Now the nuclear issue would be debated in the Lok Sabha on Monday, he said.

Mr Dasmunsi said that some ''influential quarters of the BJP'' had informed that the NDA was disrupting the proceedings of Parliament on specific directions from Chennai. Not naming the person from Chennai but indicating it to be AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa, he said the advice from ''this remote control was responsible for continued disruption'' as the BJP ''wanted to please that person so that they could harvest the benefit in future''.

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