UPA should not go ahead with nuke deal: Karat

Hyderabad, Jul 24 (UNI) Even as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government proceeded with clinching the Indo-US nuclear deal after ''winning'' the trust vote, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat today maintained that the Manmohan Singh Government should not go ahead with the deal as it was against the ''national interest''.

In the ''absence of a political consensus'' on the nuclear deal with persistent sharp division within the country , the Manmohan Government should not proceed further'', he told a press conference.

Denying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's charge that the Left parties were misleading the nation on the nuclear issue, he said it was Dr Singh, who ''misled'' the country by making a ''false promise'' of not going to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the nuclear issue till Parliament approved it.

The way the UPA Government manipulated to win majority in the trust vote did not not bring credibility to the Government.

It had ''lost the moral authority to govern'', he alleged.

The understanding among the ten-parties was limited to joint stirs against ''anti-people'' policies of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government.

Mr Karat, who was here in connection with the party state secretariat meeting, said he would hold talks with all ''like-minded'' parties to explore the possibility of further cooperation in future.

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