By IANS,
New Delhi : The Left parties, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) Friday said they would observe a protest day Sep 25, the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet US President George W. Bush in Washington and could formalise the India-US civilian nuclear deal.
“All over the country, rallies and protest demonstrations will be held against this surrender to the US,” the parties said here in a joint statement.
MPs belonging to these parties would hold a mass sit-in in the parliament complex “against the gross contempt and violation of parliamentary democracy”, the statement said, accusing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of bypassing parliament while moving ahead with the nuclear deal.
The Left and its allies reiterated that “the nuclear deal compromises India’s sovereignty and vital interests”.
“The prime minister has gone back on his assurance that he will come back to parliament after getting the clearance from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The parliament has been convened only Oct 17, well after the nuclear deal will be sealed in Washington,” the statement added.
They said the refusal to convene parliament came at a time when the country has suffered a series of terrorist blasts, attacks on Christian minorities, continuing price rise and the adverse impact of the US financial crisis.
However, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which stood with the Left parties against the UPA government in the trust vote July 22, was not a signatory to the joint protest call.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Shivshanakar Menon , while saying that the prime minister would meet Bush Sep 25, did not confirm reports that suggested that India and the US could sign the enabling 123 agreement that day.