New Delhi, Aug 16: The BJP today stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, as it moved breach of privilege motions against him in Parliament following Washington's assertion the pact would be terminated if New Delhi exploded a bomb.
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who also rejected External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement on the pact in the Lok Sabha, alleged that Singh had misled the country with his statement that the deal would have no impact on New Delhi's nuclear weapons programmes.
"It was a brazen attempt by the government to mislead the country. We have earlier described the Prime Minister's statement (on the nuke agreement) as a bundle of white lies. His (Pranab's) statement today continues with those untruths," the former external affairs minister told a news conference here.
Sinha, who read out portions from the US' India-specific Hyde Act, insisted that New Delhi's nuclear and strategic programmes would be impacted by the American law once the deal was operationalised.
"It will prohibit India from carrying out even (atomic) lab tests. ... It aims to cap, rollback and eliminate India's nuclear weapons programme," he remarked.
Sinha alleged that the Indian government's statement on the pact lacked transparency "unlike" those coming from the United States.
He said the nuclear accord would eventually hurt Indo-US ties.
"It will become the biggest cause for spoiling India's relations with the United States. This agreement cannot be implemented. It will remain a dead letter," Sinha said.
Sinha's party colleague Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the opposition had expressed its anguish to speaker Somnath Chatterjee for not allowing its leaders to speak and instead permit Mukherjee to give a statement.
The BJP's breach of privilege notices came in the wake of US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack's remarks about the fate of the nuke pact in the event of a nuclear test by India.
"How is it that a statement by the Prime Minister of India is contradicted by a flunkey of the (US) State Department? We, therefore, demand a thorough discussion on the agreement in Parliament with voting," Sinha said.
He insisted that it would be untenable for the Left to stand beside the government on the issue. "Let's see what they decide in their politburo."
Referring to Pranab's statement, he said voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing could never become a restraint as suggested by the minister.
Bureau Report