Indo-US nuke deal to figure in Parliament session

With the Left parties joining the opposition BJP and the Third Front in rejecting the Indo-US nuclear deal, the monsoon session of Parliament beginning tomorrow is expected to be a stormy affair.

The beginning of the month-long session will coincide with the vice presidential election, in which the victory of UPA-Left nominee Hamid Ansari appears to be a mere formality.

Despite the Left parties, the key outside supporters of the UPA, rejecting the nuclear deal and thereby joining the opposition BJP and the UNPA on the issue, the ruling Congress has put up a brave face and dismissed projections that this could destabilise the government.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make a suo moto statement on the deal on Monday and Congress leaders appeared hopeful that the situation would be tackled by convincing their allies that the agreement was in the best interests of the nation.

The BJP is training its guns on the government and has demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the text of the draft 123 agreement to implement the civil nuclear deal with the US. It also wants parliamentary approval to be secured before the deal is signed.

The BJP has dubbed the pact as an "assault" on the country's nuclear sovereignty and its foreign policy options and made it clear that it would be "unable to accept this agreement as finalised".