Trying to fish in troubled waters, the Third Front on Monday supported the Left parties on their opposition to the nuclear deal with the US.
NEW DELHI: Trying to fish in troubled waters, the Third Front on Monday supported the Left parties on their opposition to the nuclear deal with the US and sought Parliamentary approval for it.
"We are in touch with the Left parties. They have said that sense of the House should be taken on the deal. This is the best way for that," Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh told here. He was flanked by TDP's Yerran Naidu and AIADMK's V Maitrayan.
Branding the Indo-US nuclear deal as a 'slave treaty' and a 'unilateral' decision taken by the Government, the UNPA demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the matter.
"The Government has said that the treaty has been ratified by the Cabinet, which is a handful of people picked up by the Prime Minister, but since in a democracy like India, Parliament is supreme, the deal should be ratified by both the houses," Singh said.
"It is very disgusting to see how the Government unilaterally moved ahead with the deal on the behalf of the country," he said adding that the deal in its present form was a 'slave treaty'.
"The Government should immediately set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the matter," he said.
Apart from this, the Government should also include opposition leaders and distinguished scientists and patriots like former President A P J Abdul Kalam in the panel it is planning to set up to address concerns on the nuclear deal, Singh.
The Government had yesterday indicated that a panel will be set up to address specific objections and concerns on the nuclear deal. The panel may include those from the government who have worked on the deal and others, including Left representatives.
Seeking a 'broad-based' debate into the whole issue, Singh said the agreement had been pushed forward at the "cost of the country's sovereignty as well as economic and military freedom."
The government is not a 'private limited company', he said adding the ruling party cannot impose its dictum on the people.
"The deal should be discussed in totality," he added.
Linking the deal with the wider strategic alliance with the United States, the Samajwadi Party leader contended that the country is 'tilting towards the US'.
He further said that "the assurance the Prime Minister had given to Parliament has not been kept by him".
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