After an hour-long meeting of MPs belonging to his party, Mulayam Singh, Samajwadi Party chief, claimed, "the party not only supports the decision to back the UPA on the Indo-Nuclear deal but also hails the decision as a patriotic move."
Flanked by some of the party's prominent Muslim MPs - Saleem Sherwani, Shafiq-ur Rehman Bark and Rubab Sayeed - Singh apparently sought to scotch the rumours that his party was facing a rebellion from Muslim leaders on its decision to support the N-deal.
He said the party would issue a whip to all its MPs for voting in favour of the government in case a no-confidence motion was brought in the Lok Sabha.
The Samajwadi party leaders indicated that all but one MPs - Munnawar Hassan - had supported the deal. "We know that Hassan has been speaking against the decision and we are not counting on his support." Amar Singh, SP, general secretary, said.
At least six MPs did not attend the meeting. Reoti Raman Singh and Mohan Singh supported the stand of the party but said logistics prevented them from attending the meeting.
Atique Ahmad is in jail. Raj Babbar is unattached but SP had real worries about Jai Prakash, MP from Mohanlalganj who is from a reserved constituency. About Jai Pakash, Saleem Sherwani said: "We will manage to rope him in."
The SP not only pledged its support but also announced to counter the propaganda that Muslims were against the nuclear deal. "This is a sheer propaganda meant to insult the patriotic feelings of the minority community," said Amar Singh.
Mulayam Singh said "the nuclear deal has been welcomed by Muslims across the state including in Deoband, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Bareilly."
"If a deal is good for the country, it has to be good for both Hindus and Muslims,'' he said.
The party resolution "cautioned against the growing activities of the communal forces and the need for cohesion among the secular parties."
It says, "Samajwadi party has extended support for the Indo-US nuclear deal after being assured by scientists, strategists and policy makers that it would serve crucial interests of the country.''
Yadav said that he was further convinced of the virtues of the deal after a briefing by the former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Mulayam Singh however vehemently denied that his party was going to join the government immediately or that it would propose one of its MPs name for the post of Speaker of the Lok Sabha in case, Somnath Chaterjee resigned.
