Nuclear deal: SP says not in touch with Cong, to consult UNPA

New Delhi, Jun 23 (UNI) The Samajwadi Party today strongly denied reports that it was going out to save the government that had almost been ''deserted'' by the Left over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Any 'decision on a Parliament vote on nuclear issue would be taken after consultation with other UNPA leaders, it said.

SP General Secretary Amar Singh, who is currently abroad, said there was no change in his party's stand on the deal, and it was not in touch with the Congress on the issue.

''Not a single leader from the Congress had called me or my party to discuss the issue,'' he told a TV channel.

''It is all kite-flying,'' he remarked when asked about reports about his party giving support to the Congress on the nuclear deal.

The SP General Secretary said his party could not change its stand on the issue overnight, unless some new facts were brought to it.

He said he was in constant touch with CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on the deal.

''All we know about the N-deal is through the Left parties. Any decision on a Parliament vote will be taken collectively by the UNPA,'' added the SP leader.

Earlier in Lucknow, the SP leader had said he would consult his partners in the UNPA before any step. A meeting of the UNPA leaders would be called soon, he added.

There were strong reports doing the rounds in the capital on Saturday that the SP had finally been roped in by the Congress to help it stave off the crisis caused by the attitude of the Left over the issue.

It was reported that Congress leaders talked to SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh and the former had shown some willingness to come to the help of the ''beleagured'' UPA government.

The support of the SP, which has 39 MPs in the Lok Sabha at this juncture (especially after the withdrawal of the BSP support)' was critical of the Congress that is under increasing pressure by the US to expedite the implementation of the deal. The BSP has 17 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Moreover, for the SP, the main opposition in Uttar Pradesh, an alliance with the Congress at the Centre will certainly help it extract political concessions as far as the state politics was concerned.

UNI NAZ HS RN2024