Manmohan, Sonia pitch for n-deal at AICC meet

“India is too big a country. We have the heritage of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi; that itself is a guarantee that nobody can bend India in any manner,” he added, drawing huge applause from about 2,000 AICC delegates assembled for the meet.

Returning to the text, the PM made a fervent plea in favour of the nuclear deal, saying that going by the pace at which Indian economy was growing, it would be impossible to fulfil the energy needs solely through thermal and hydro power.

There is need to locate new sources of energy if the growth rate has to be maintained and poverty eliminated, he said. “One possible source is nuclear power. This route has, so far, been closed. The Civil Nuclear Agreement is an effort to open closed doors so that we can obtain nuclear fuel and technology from other countries, such as USA, Russia and France, and remove the shortage of electricity in the country. You need to understand this reality and explain it to our people,” said Singh.

Backing the PM, the AICC resolution said it was “convinced that it (deal) will end India’s isolation in the international nuclear community and will enable it to access technology more easily so as to significantly increase the contribution of nuclear energy to our electricity supply over the next two decades. The AICC has no doubt that the nuclear agreement protects India’s fundamental strategic interests in every way.”

Condemning the efforts of some political parties to give a communal colour to foreign policy, the resolution said that the “AICC would like to remind the people of the country that it was the letter of June 2003 of the Congress President to the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that stalled the dispatch of Indian troops to Iraq when the BJP-led NDA government had all but decided to do so.The Congress party needs no lessons from anyone in pursuing India’s independent foreign policy.”

Prior to the PM’s speech, Congress President Sonia Gandhi too made a strong defence of the nuclear deal, arguing that it would give India both raw material and new technology, and would facilitate enhanced cooperation from friendly countries for electricity.

“Self-reliance was our policy since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru. But international cooperation on our own terms is an inalienable part of this self-reliance,” she said, adding that the PM had repeatedly assured that the nuclear deal would not affect the country’s strategic nuclear programme.

She conceded that there were differences of opinion between the UPA and supporting parties, and talks were on to build a consensus. Sonia said that the Congress remained committed to universal nuclear disarmament whose blueprint was presented by late Rajiv Gandhi in the UN General Assembly.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the Indo-US nuclear deal would provide India access to technology. “We talk of superpower. What does superpower mean? It means access to superior technology. Our engineers and scientists are second to none. But we have been denied access to technology 1974 onwards- for most unjust reasons,” he said.

Cong pointing finger at us to cover its failures: BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday reacted sharply to criticism leveled against it at AICC session. The party termed it as “an attempt by the Congress President to divert public attention from Government’s and party’s pathetic litany of failures.” Congress had accused the BJP of obstructive politics and party President Sonia Gandhi had said that Gandhian values were under threat in BJP-ruled states. BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said the “only glue that binds this coalition of opportunism is the patent hatred of the UPA constituents towards the BJP”.

“Before speaking about terrorism, the Prime Minister and the Congress President should inform the nation about the truth as to why Afzal Guru is yet to be hanged or why no appeal has been filed against Abdul Rashid Madani, the prime accused in the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts which killed 58 innocent citizens and injured over 200 others?” he added.

Prasad said that the PM and Sonia, who both spoke for women’s reservation, should first make their position clear on reported incidents of rape in Nandigram. “They should let the nation know whether the mass rape of innocent women and the state-organised mayhem perpetrated by their allies, the CPI(M) and Left party cadre in Nandigram, bear their stamp of approval?” Prasad said.

“Their deafening silence on the atrocities committed against Muslims in Nandigram is deplorable, “ he said. The BJP spokesperson said the leader of the UPA calling the BJP obstructionist clearly reflects the “undemocratic mindset of Sonia Gandhi”. The BJP also said that the telecast of the entire speeches of the PM and Sonia Gandhi at the AICC session by Doordarshan violated the model code of conduct as elections have been announced in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. “How can the ruling party at the Centre, which is also a principal contestant in Gujarat and is the ruling party in Himachal Pradesh, be allowed to have monopoly on the public broadcaster,” Prasad said. “The use of the public broadcaster at such a time is violation of the Model Code of Conduct and Election Commission should look into it.”