"We want to defeat, not destabilise UPA govt:" Advani

New Delhi, Jul 21 (UNI) Describing the ruling UPA coalition as a ''patient in the ICU'' fighting for survival, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani today asked the MPs to bear in mind the dismal performance of the government and the horse-trading in the past fortnight while voting on the Confidence Motion against the ''minority'' dispensation.

"We want to defeat this government and not destabilise it," Mr Advani said in the Lok Sabha, while initiating a two-day debate on the motion of confidence moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Citing several instances of how the Congress had destabilised governments in the past, he said it is not "in our nature to destabilise an elected government." Alleging that the UPA had been indulging in horse trading to convert itself into a majority government in the past 15 days, Mr Advani claimed that no such allegation was levelled against the A B Vajpayee government when it had sought a trust vote in 1999.

Pointing out that the government had been reduced to a minority with the Left withdrawing support on July 9, he said such a dispensation could not enter into any international agreement.

He said his party was not against nuclear energy and a close and strategic relationship with the US, but it was opposed to a nuclear deal that sought to make India unequal and subservient.

Mr Advani said if the BJP came to power, it would renegotiate the deal to make it a treaty between two equals, besides ensuring that there was no constraint on the country's strategic programmes and autonomy.

He contested the government's claim that the Indo-US nuclear deal would find an everlasting solution to the country's energy needs to cope with the economic growth, and said the country would be getting only a total of six per cent of its total power requirement from nuclear sources after the signing of the deal.

The present share of power from nuclear sources constituted three per cent.

"The increase, therefore, is only three per cent from a deal which is touted as one of the biggest achievements of the UPA government." Mr Advani also said India would not be able to go ahead with its nuclear tests once the nuke deal was signed. "There will not be any Pokhran-III or Pokran-IV," he said, while pointing out how the prestige of the country had gone up after its Pokhran-II under the previous Vajpayee government.

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