CPM asks BJP to join hands against N-deal

Holding that the agreement to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal was not acceptable to the majority in Parliament, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to join all others in telling the government not to proceed with it.

"The question will boil down to whether the Parliament can ratify this agreement. If we take that position, there is no point in asking for a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a vote," Karat, who is leading a Left procession against joint naval exercises involving the US in the Bay of Bengal, told a television channel.

Disagreeing with the BJP demand for a JPC, he told NDTV: 'I think the question is political. The agreement is not acceptable to the majority in Parliament. We can all tell the government, don't proceed (with the deal). And I do not see why the BJP cannot take that position.'

Karat felt Parliament should discuss the nuclear issue and BJP should voice its views there.

'Let the country know whether this government has any support in Parliament on the nuclear deal. That will be the best way to make sure that this deal is not proceeded with. How can a government go against the majority in Parliament,' he asked.

In Nellore, the CPI-M leader questioned government's nod for naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal involving the US.    
'Imperialists were being invited to come to India and bring their navies here... like the Walmart, which would like to run shops here, retail trade would destroy the livelihood of our small shopkeepers,' he said.