N-deal fallout: Congress says not wary of elections

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Sunday rejected the threat by Left parties over the India-United States nuclear deal and said his party was not wary of elections.

"The Congress party is not afraid of elections. If a party is wary of elections it will have to close its shop," Singh told reporters here after discussing the problems of flood victims and the distribution of relief material with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

N-deal: Read all the latest on the UPA-Left stand-off

He asked the Left parties to clarify which of the provisions of the Indo-US nuclear deal threatened the country's sovereignty and was not in its interest.

"We should not criticise the pact just because we do not like the US," the AICC general secretary said in an oblique reference to the Left parties' opposition to the deal.

Asked if he was hinting at early elections, Singh said: "I am not giving an indication but making a statement that no one is afraid of elections."

Asked if elections were inevitable, Singh said, "I am not saying that."

He flayed the Bharatiya Janata Party for opposing the deal and charged it with maintaining double standards.

"[BJP leader] Jaswant Singh tried for six years to clinch a nuclear deal with the US [during his stint as external affairs minister] but failed. When the UPA government signed the deal, the BJP is opposing it," he said. "The BJP has no real issue on the matter."

Asked about the possibility of Left parties withdrawing support to the government over the issue, Singh said the prime minister had already stated that the government had taken a decision and it was for the Left parties to decide their stand.