Panel, UPA-Left internal arrangement: Bardhan

Bhubaneswar, Sep 6: CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan today said the 15-member panel set up by the UPA on the nuke deal is an internal arrangement between the UPA and the supporting Left parties and has nothing to do with the Parliament.

Mr Bardhan, who is heading a Jatha from Kolkata to Visakhapatnam, told mediapersons here that the Left and the UPA had sharp differences on the whole issue of the nuke deal and the panel has been set up only to consider these differences.

The CPI leader said the opposition has full right to voice its concern over the nuke deal and put forth their views on the issue and it was for the government to respond to their demand for the JPC probe into the issue.

He, however, clarified that JPC has a special task to probe into the scams and scandals and never set up to discuss the policy of the government.

On the naval exercise, Mr Bardhan said the UPA government was trying to white wash the issue by stating that such exercises were also held in the past, adding that there should not be any confusion over the left protest on the issue.

Earlier only bilateral exercised were held but in the present naval exercise, as many as five countries were involved in which the US, Australia and Japan were linked on a military defence agreement, Mr Bardhan said. The CPI leader said he did not find any reason why India should join such a military alliance and allow the naval exercise to be held in the Bay of Bengal and be a party to US military strategy.

By conducting the naval exercise, the US, Mr Bardhan said, wanted to send a strong message to the Asia, Africa and also the China.

The common minimum programme clearly stipulated that India should follow an independent foreign policy, promote the multilateralism and oppose the unilaterlism in the world which the US was pursuing.

The CPI leader refused to speculate about the possibility of mid-term elections in the country but said the time has come to review the performance of the UPA government. He, however, said even the BJP was not in favour of a mid-term elections as aired by its spokesman to a TV channel.

Mr Bardhan hinted that the four Left parties would sit again to chalk out the strategies on the out come of the panel over the nuke deal.

UNI