Atique finally with BSP, will vote against UPA Govt

New Delhi, Jul 22 (UNI) Showering praise on BSP chief Mayawati for taking ''a principled stand'' on the nuclear deal, rebel Samajwadi Party MP Atique Ahmed today declared he was going to vote against the UPA Government.

''I am totally against the way the nuclear deal was being pushed through, and I don't understand why we should be so much carried away by the US,'' he told reporters before entering the Lok Sabha where voting on the trust motion is to take place today.

The MP is facing a jail term but has been allowed to come to the House to cast his vote.

He admitted that the nuclear deal was a very complex issue, and he did not understand it fully, and said there should be more debate on the issue.

''I wonder what is the hurry in introducing the confidence motion. It is a matter on which the UPA Government should have gone to the people and declared elections,'' he told reporters.

He praised the BSP for taking a very clear stand on opposition to the deal. ''You can see that her clear stand is now paying her dividends,'' added Atique referring to the leading role she has acquired in the current political situation.

Atique said though he did not understand the complex issue invloved in the deal, it was clear to him that all that was being done for energy, but the question was why such a big country like India could not produce energy with its own resources instead of looking up to US.

The Government should take some lesson from late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who took on the US during the Bangladesh war and brought victory to the people, he said.

Atique is the fifth SP MP to have openly delared his rebellion against the Samajwadi Party.

He is serving the jail term in connection with the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in Uttar Pradesh.

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