Mellowed SP response likely on deal debate in RS

With political parties having already enunciated their position on the Indo-US nuclear debate in the Lok Sabha...

With political parties having already enunciated their position on the Indo-US nuclear debate in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha will debate the issue on Tuesday. While all major parties are likely to reiterate their respective positions as argued in the Lok Sabha, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is likely to tread cautiously on this subject considering its mellowed opposition to the deal in the Lok Sabha.

Senior SP leader Amar Singh is likely to dispel ambiguities regarding his party’s position on the deal. His party has charted a separate position, away from the “do not proceed” refrain of the Left parties, by maintaining its distance from any blanket opposition to the deal during discussions in the Lok Sabha.

“If there is any ambiguity regarding SP’s position on the deal, I will clarify it in the Upper House when the debate will take place,” Amar Singh told The Indian Express.

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According to sources, though the SP may refrain from any ‘blanket’ opposition to the deal, Amar Singh, in all probability, would articulate his party’s opposition to the deal. From the Opposition, the debate is likely to witness the participation of BJP MPs Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha.

Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) and D Raja of the CPI are likely voice the Left parties’ opposition to the nuclear deal. Yechury told reporters in the capital on Monday that the deal was “lot more than only nuclear cooperation, it has a larger agenda to convert India into a subordinate ally of the US in South Asia”.

From the Congress, party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, who is also member of the UPA-Left Committee on the deal, are expected to intervene in the debate in Rajya Sabha.