Cong to make nuke deal as a main poll plank: Rahul

Rahul Gandhi says the Indo-US nuclear deal will be one of the main planks of Congress in coming elections.

The Indo-US nuclear deal will be one of the main planks of Congress in coming elections with party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi asking the party spokespersons to propagate the long-term benefits of the agreement across the country.

In a one-day orientation workshop on the nuclear deal for party spokespersons, Gandhi, who had strongly pitched for the deal during the debate on the trust vote, said India should not fail to project itself in the nuclear arena.

He said while India has proved its potential in several fields, including education and science and technology, it could ill-afford to leave the area of nuclear technology for others.

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The Amethi MP said energy was of vital importance for the survival of the poor and a part of infrastructure for economic growth.

He said the government was trying to visualise the magnitude of the energy crisis which is bound to take place 20 years from now and taking steps now to solve them.

The young MP launched a scathing attack on political parties opposing the nuclear agreement by claimng that they were suffering from a fear psychosis. He maintained that Congress was bold enough to go ahead with the agreement, the results of which would be seen in the next 15 years.

Several of the delegates present lamented that people in various states are not aware of the benefits the nuclear agreement would bring to the common man as they have not been explained the technicalities of the deal in simple language.

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Rahul asked the party spokespersons to reach out to the state and district levels in the coming months and inform people about the deal’s benefits.

Rahul said the benefits of technology cannot be estimated on a short-term basis.

He said when the first personal computer was manufactured, even the makers were not sure about its popularity and reach then.