Earlier, the Left parties, pointing to the Prime Minister’s statement that the Government would “very soon” approach the IAEA to move forward on the deal, announced that the “time has come” to pull the plug.
The four parties — CPM, CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP — have sought an appointment with President Pratibha Patil tomorrow morning to submit their letter of withdrawal of support, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat told reporters.
With the support of 39 SP MPs, the UPA is confident of crossing the simple majority number of 272 in the Lok Sabha. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said: “I am very confident that in any test on the floor of the House, we will come out with flying colours.” Other than the SP, the Government is counting on support from Govt plans IAEA trip after House vote July 21-22
the JD(S), RLD, Independents and hoping that the Akalis and some others from the NDA abstain.
The SP parliamentary party today endorsed chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s decision to “save” the UPA Government over the nuclear deal issue. But two SP MPs, Munawar Hasan and Jai Prakash Rawat, have fallen out with the party over the deal and this may bring down the SP count to 37.
“The party MPs not only approved the nuclear deal but also welcomed the party’s support for it. We will also vote for it in Parliament,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav.
In Sapporo, SP MP Shahid Siddiqui — he is part of the PM’s delegation to the G8 in his capacity as Editor of Urdu daily Nai Duniya — said: “The fact that I am here shows there is no crisis for the Government.”
SP general secretary Amar Singh said a three-line whip would be issued to ensure support for the deal and the Government. He later met Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “There is no problem with the arithmetic in Parliament. The real issue is that Advani, Modi and Maya are more dangerous than Bush,” Singh told reporters after the meeting at 10, Janpath.
He termed reports about a split in the SP over the deal as “political propaganda” and claimed that 7 BSP MPs were in touch with him.
To scotch speculation that the SP was a divided house over the deal, Mulayam Singh Yadav paraded the party’s Muslim MPs at the press conference. Amar Singh said attempts were being made to “communalise” the deal.
“It must be remembered that Muslims of the country are Indians first. Those who are trying to communalise the nuclear deal issue are raising a finger at the Indianness of the Muslims. The deal is in the national interest and the country’s Muslims are also in its support. This is evident from the pronouncement of several respected clerics. The nuclear deal has been welcomed by Muslims across UP, including clerics in Deoband, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Bareilly,” Singh said.
