Govt approached BJP on N-deal when on verge of falling

BANGALORE: Ahead of the winter session of Parliament, BJP on Monday alleged that the government has approached them on the nuclear issue when it was on the 'verge of falling' and plainly told it to pay the price for its 'opportunism'.

"The results would have been different if the government had initiated talks with the Opposition (on the Indo-US nuclear deal)...We would have tried to find a way on the Hyde Act if they had talked to us," Leader of the Opposition LK Advani said.

Talking to reporters on board a plane to Bangalore to attend the installation of the first-ever saffron government in the South, he said, "The government will have to pay the wages of opportunism."

"Now, they have reached out to talk when they are at the verge of falling," he said, adding it was 'too late' for the government to initiate talks with the opposition. "They are merely doing formalities," he alleged.

"Although the instability in Delhi started with the nuclear deal, now lately it has reached to the extent of finalising a date for general election," Advani said.

He preceded the remarks by saying that the country has entered into a coalition era, "But the coalition should not be opportunist as that of the UPA and the Left".

Noting that the priority of the government was 'not to save the deal but to save the government', he said the Congress-led coalition was under pressure from its allies to ensure that it does not fall.