New Delhi, July 2: On the eve of the crucial UNPA meeting tomorrow, the Samajwadi Party, whose 39 Lok Sabha MPs hold the hope for the government on the nuclear deal, closed ranks behind the UPA by excluding itself from the list of those it said were opposed to the deal. And went a step further to say that “communalism was more dangerous than anything else, including the deal.”

“As far as we are concerned, the danger of communalism in form of the BJP-BSP combination is more lethal and dangerous than anything else, including the nuclear deal,” Amar Singh told The Indian Express late tonight. “I do not have any sense of hurt, prejudice, or even anger with our colleagues in the Left parties on the issue. In fact, these emotions have no role to play in the situations of national crises and national causes.”

“Though the Government is not constitutionally obliged to stall the international agreement on the nuclear deal, for which the Cabinet has already granted its approval, it appears that the BJP, BSP and Left have made up their mind to unitedly oppose the nuclear deal in the eventuality of no-confidence motion amid the political crisis emerging out of the government going ahead with the nuclear deal”, said SP General Secretary Amar Singh.

Clearly, he kept the SP out of those having “made up” their mind to oppose the deal.

Singh was speaking to reporters after he along with General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav held a meeting with the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan at an undisclosed location in the capital during which both had sought certain clarifications with regard to the the deal.

The SP, trying hard to package its turnaround, lobbed the ball back into Prime Minister’s court by demanding a public explanation from Manmohan Singh on the apprehensions “flagged to us” by CPM leader Prakash Karat.

“We sought clarifications regarding India’s vote against Iran in IAEA, the country’s nuclear sovereignty, our foreign policy sovereignty, the affects of 123 agreement and Hyde Act on India’s right to nuclear tests and other related apprehensions. We also demanded that the clarifications should be conveyed to the public of this country,” said Amar Singh. “We demand the Prime Minister must publicly clarify his stand on these apprehensions.”

Within four hours, the Prime Minister’s office issued a point-by-point answer to all the questions raised by Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav. This was essentially a restatement of its position that the deal, in no way, compromised India’s independence in foreign policy, that the 123 Agreement

Sources said that the SP will continue to go “through the motions” to signal that its turnaround is based on a valid assessment of the deal. To this effect, it may even consult “senior scientists” of the atomic energy establishment and discuss details with other UNPA partners.

“I am yet to receive formal communication from the Prime Minister. Even if I receive the communication, I will discuss it among our UNPA colleagues. I will not do any thing for which I will be held responsible to rock the boat of unity of UNPA. I will refrain from taking a position on the clarifications provided by the PMO at the moment,” said Amar Singh when asked about his stand after the PMO’s statement.

Earlier, an hour before the meeting with the NSA, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav along with Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav met BJP leader Jaswant Singh at Amar Singh’s residence to discuss the Indo-US nuclear dialogue undertaken during Jaswant’s tenure as External Affairs minister in the NDA regime.

“During our meeting with Jaswant Singh, the former External Affairs Minister and BJP leader shared his experience about the Indo-US nuclear dialogue process. He told us that the opinion of the Left parties and the opinion of the BJP against the Manmohan Singh government on the nuclear deal issue are similar,” said Amar Singh. He said that during the meeting, the SP leadership told Jaswant that “for us, the danger of communalism is bigger than any (nuclear) deal. Our highest priority remains to counter communalism in the country and, particularly, not letting UP to become another Gujarat.”