By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday asked the Left parties to react to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s comments daring them to withdraw support to the government following their differences over the India-US nuclear deal.
“Will they (the Left parties) now bite? If they really believe that the 123 agreement is not in India’s national interest they should vote against it (in parliament) in the larger national interest,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He was referring to Manmohan Singh’s interview to the Kolkata-based Telegraph.
The prime minister told the newspaper: “I told them (Left leaders) that it is not possible to renegotiate the deal. It is an honourable deal, the cabinet has approved it, we cannot go back on it. I told them to do whatever they want to do, if they want to withdraw support, so be it…”
The main opposition BJP as well as the Left parties that provide crucial support to the Manmohan Singh government have opposed the nuclear deal. However, while the BJP has demanded a discussion on it in parliament followed by a vote, the Left wants only a debate on it.