The Hindu : Front Page : BJP challenges Left to ‘walk the talk’

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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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BJP challenges Left to ‘walk the talk’

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has challenged the Left to “walk the talk” on its stance on the India-United States nuclear cooperation agreement and said the time had come for it to “match words with action.”

In a statement here on Saturday, BJP president Rajnath Singh said the Left parties had been engaging in “high decibel verbal duels” with the UPA government without showing any resolve to strike. It was time it made the choice between the trappings of power — for, indirectly, it was enjoying power — and the interest of the nation. He expressed his unhappiness that the Left parties were not willing to support the Opposition in its demand for a discussion on the nuclear issue in Parliament under a rule that mandates voting.

Mr. Singh wondered why the Left was not willing to join hands with the Opposition to stall the nuclear deal. If the agreement was against the interest of the country, as the Left had said it was, why should it allow the government to continue functioning? In other words, what Mr. Singh was really asking is why the Left has stopped short of withdrawing support to the government.

Referring to the Left’s unwillingness to make common cause with the BJP or the National Democratic Alliance, Mr. Singh said “ideological differences cannot be larger than the nation.” Parties, he added, must “go beyond ideological differences and display solidarity against the government.”

The statement comes hours after the CPI(M) made its stand known to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that it was against operationalising the 123 agreement.

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