Nuke issue: Par paralysed again

NEW DELHI: The Opposition NDA and the Third Front on Thursday refused to participate in a discussion on the Indo-US nuclear deal despite being listed in the Rajya Sabha and stalled proceedings in both Houses demanding the agreement be taken up through a substantive motion entailing voting.

Though the issue was listed to be taken up as Short Duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha, vocal Opposition members disrupted proceedings demanding setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to vet the agreement.

The NDA and Third Front members remained equally unrelenting in the Lok Sabha where too they stuck to their demand for a JPC and this led to repeated adjournments.

The Opposition members refused to participate in the discussion when the Chair announced taking up of the issue at 1400 hours in the Upper House which earlier witnessed two adjournments.

Almost all senior BJP members including Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh, Deputy Leader Sushma Swaraj,  Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Shourie, former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, AIADMK new leader in the House Dr V Maitreyan, and Samajawadi Party's Amar Singh and Janeshwar Mishra were among signatories asking for the discussion to be raised.

Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan told the members, who were shouting slogans from the well of the House, that they could express their views as the Indo-US deal was now open to debate.

But, this was of no avail as the din continued and the House had to be adjourned for the day.