After Kalam OK to n-deal, SP signals a rethink: Let UPA give us new facts

“So far, all facts related to the deal that we have got have come from Left parties. But if the government discusses with us and brings some more facts, we will go through them. If we get an invitation from the UPA to discuss matters related with the nuclear deal, the party will consider it,” said Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh after a meeting with the PM today.

The nuclear deal was, however, not discussed at the meeting, he said.

The SP’s willingness to “negotiate” on the deal marked a departure from its stated position as the party has rejected the deal. “Our position remains firm as stated in the Parliament but if the government brings some extraordinary facts, then we will consider that collectively with our allies in UNPA and colleagues in Left,” said Singh adding, “We are opposed to the deal not because we are blind followers of the Left.”

It was the SP, which had taken the lead in suggesting Kalam’s candidature in the 2002 Presidential election. In 2007, too, it had backed Kalam’s renomination as well.

The SP’s new signal also reflects growing tension with the Left over what it called the “legislative bulldozing” of the Women’s Reservation Bill by the government and the Left. It’s also being seen in political circles as a feeler to the Congress while maintaining a relationship with the Left which can be leveraged after the general elections.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, the PM told reporters: “I hope the country will listen to the voices of wisdom.” He said Kalam was “a distinguished scientist and had been intimately involved with the Pokharan explosion”. Asked whether the Left should also listen to the “voices of wisdom”, the PM said, “People should listen to it”.

In an email interview to The Indian Express yesterday, Kalam had said: “We have thorium resources in abundance. But thorium is not fissile material and has to be converted into a fissile material using plutonium. Our scientists are working hard to realize this mission. It may take five to seven years to achieve this goal. Hence it is essential to have uranium for running our nuclear reactors...getting uranium from these countries will not stop us from doing the indigenous research and development in thorium-based nuclear reactors...Hence, we should go ahead with civilian nuclear deal with US. It does not compromise India’s sovereignty. We can at any time withdraw, if any national security need arises in future.”

Reacting to the SP’s offer for talks on nuclear deal, a wary Congress said that the PM and the External Affairs Minister had made several statements inside and outside the Parliament on how the nuclear deal is in the country’s interest. “In their statements, there is ample clarification that the deal is in the interest of the country and therefore all political parties should support it irrespective of their ideologies. As for Amar Singh’s remarks, it is for the UPA-Left Coordination Committee to decide whether they want to discuss it with other parties,” said AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed.

Kalam’s remarks have put many in the BJP in a spot as well. So long, it has dismissed former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra’s endorsement of the deal as his “personal opinion” but it is well aware that it can’t be seen as doing the same with Kalam’s.

Several BJP leaders, when contacted by The Sunday Express, admitted, in private, that Kalam’s endorsement was a “dilemma” given that his “nationalist credentials” were beyond doubt. “It is a big dharmasankat for me,” said a top leader, “so I would not like to comment.”

For the record, however, Sushma Swaraj said: “He is a respected figure but that doesn’t mean we have to agree with all his formulations. There is no shift in our opinion.”

Known for his steadfast opposition to the deal, party vice president Yashwant Sinha said there was no way the party would accept the deal in its present form. Party general secretary Vinay Katiyar, however, echoed the sentiments of a significant section in the party when he said that “Kalam’s nationalism cannot ever be questioned, and hence his arguments (on the nuclear deal) have their own merit. But we wish that the Government was more open on the deal details with us”.

“Kalam’s statement has struck a chord. But how can we be blamed if the Government wanted to ride roughshod over us and take the Left along for the deal? When the Prime Minister called L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh and Brajesh Mishra for talks about a year ago, it was too late,” said another senior BJP leader.

Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, meanwhile, claimed that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee “does not subscribe to his former aide Brijesh Mishra’s views on Indo-US nuclear deal”. “I have met Vajpayeeji. He has said that he has nothing to do with what former national security advisor Brijesh Mishra has said on the Indo-US nuclear deal,”’ Singh told reporters on Saturday.