CPI(M) to join other parties to move no-trust motion: Karat

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of "lying to people and Parliament" on Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, the C.P.I.(M.) on Thursday demanded his resignation and said it would join hands with other parties to bring a no-confidence motion against his government.

"The only option left to them (U.P.A.) is that the Prime Minister should quit. But neither will they convene Parliament session nor will they quit. .. It is a shameless government," party General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.

He alleged the government has been "lying" to
Parliament and people on the nature of the bilateral agreement
reached with the U.S. for civilian nuclear cooperation.

"It is evident that the Indian government was fully
aware that the fuel supply assurances did not cover a
termination of the 123 agreement and they have deliberately
misled the country," he said.

The Left parties, B.S.P., T.D.P., J.D.(S.) and parties
which opposed the deal would jointly meet President Pratibha
Patil in the next couple of days to demand immediate convening
of the monsoon session of Parliament.

"They are trying to even change the seasons of the
country. Have you heard of monsoon in October?" he said
referring to the government's decision to convene the next
session from October 17.

Karat indicated that the government was trying its
best not to allow tabling of a no-confidence motion, saying
it had not prorogued the previous session so far and had only
adjourned it sine die.

As per parliamentary norms, if a session is a
continuation of the previous one, then the same motion cannot
be brought in the House again. The opposition had brought a
no-confidence motion in the budget session.

Karat said the C.P.I.(M.) had got the contents of the
correspondence between the Bush administration and U.S.
Congress "two months ago and written about it" in the party
organ 'People's Democracy'.

"Normally, all such documents are made public, the U.S.
State Department had asked the lawmakers to keep these secret
because public disclosure may torpedo the deal....

"The U.S. Congress would not have liked to torpedo the
deal as it was confined to (American) interests. ... But this
was kept a secret because the U..S Administration wanted to
protect the Indian government," he said.

The disclosures, the C.P.I.(M.) leader said, would have
"exposed that the government had falsely told the Indian
Parliament and the people that Hyde Act was not applicable to
the deal."

Karat accused the government of knowing fully well
about the nature of the deal and "asked them (U.S. government)
not to make it public. The Indian government was privy to the
whole negotiations with all its conditionalities and
constraints that we have been talking about for the past one
and a half years."

He claimed the assurances given by the Prime
Minister in Parliament had been "totally contrary" to the
correspondence between U.S. State Department and lawmakers.

On the revised N.S.G. draft for a waiver from N.S.G.
on sanctions on nuclear trade, he said it made it clear that
the Hyde Act conditions would be built into this waiver and it
would not be "clean or unconditional as the U.P.A. government
has led the country to believe". (more) PTI