NDA to persist with JPC demand on nuclear pact

New Delhi, Sep 6: Demanding that the UPA Government accept the proposal of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the Indo-US nuclear deal, the NDA today said it would prevail upon the ruling alliance to agree for a debate on the issue under a rule that would entail voting in both Houses of Parliament.

Senior BJP leader and NDA Spokesperson Sushma Swaraj told newspersons that the BJP Parliamentary Party and the NDA, which met under the Chairmanship of Leader of Opposition L K Advani, said the NDA failed to understand the rationale behind the UPA avoiding a discussion under rule 168 in the Rajya Sabha and 184 in the Lok Sabha.

She said the Opposition would not fall into the UPA trap to tire out MPs by asking them to discuss the issue in a Short Duration debate that did not allow voting. The languge of the motion to be discussed can be arrived at through mutual understanding, she added.

Asked if the government had given any indications of adjourning Parliament sine die, Ms Swaraj said the Opposition was not given any such indication in either House.

She said seeking a discussion that entailed voting or seeking a JPC for going into the issue was not against the ruling of the Speaker. It was normal in a democracy for the Opposition and the ruling party to indulge in such time-consuming wrangles and reminded that a truce in the Bofors issue came after battling it out for a fortnight.

She said the BJP and the NDA wanted Parliament to allow structured discussions on the JPC and a full-fledged debate in the two Houses on the JPC report on a crucial issue concerning the future of country's nuclear programme which had a direct bearing on national security matters.

To a question if the NDA too had not put up a discussion on Arunachal Pradesh with China without bringing it to the notice of Parliament, Ms Swaraj said the discussions on the nuclear deal and border dispute discussions with China were not the same issue. It was only for discussing an ongoing dispute with the neighbouring country and not a bilateral agreement like the nuclear deal, she asserted.

UNI