The Lok Sabha discussion on the controversial Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, which had led to frequent sparring between the BJP and the Congress in the recent past, saw rare bonhomie on Wednesday when the two parties patted each other on the back after reaching consensus on the proposed legislation.
Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan was the first to reach out to the Opposition when he gave the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance regime credit for initiating the civil nuclear regime.
“I would like to acknowledge here the work done by the then government in 2002 to start thinking about enacting a civil nuclear liability regime. The then government could not complete its task, which fell to our domain to take that task further,” he said moving the Bill.
The principal Opposition was not behind in showering praise on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for the manner it tried to build consensus among parties on the legislation.
“I must sincerely commend the Minister of State, Prithviraj Chavan, for the energy, application and assiduity with which he has worked towards achieving a consensus. I have known him for quite a few years, and I have always commended and complimented him on his commitment,” said senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who initiated the debate on behalf of his party.
“I am grateful also to the Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, who did us the courtesy of consulting with us, without which several of the consultations would perhaps have not reached the stage of a consensus.” Though Mr. Singh's speech was critical of the government on certain aspects of the Bill, many considered it mild in content.
Outside the House, BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy expressed satisfaction with the government's approach, saying most concerns of his party had been taken care of. “We earlier expressed deep concerns about the Bill ... We are happy that the government has incorporated our suggestions.”
He said the main Opposition wanted the legislation to be India-centric, and also praised the role of other political parties at the Standing Committee stage.
“Everybody has contributed to the amendments in the Bill ... Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha S.S. Ahluwalia, RJD, SP and other members on the Standing Committee on Science and Technology. Perhaps no other Bill has seen so much churning,” Mr. Rudy said.
Asked if the BJP's concerns at the Bill favouring Washington and being pushed under pressure from the Barack Obama administration had been addressed, Mr. Rudy said: “The U.S. wanted to show India as a big market which it wanted to be a part of. The initial Bill was in favour of the supplier.” This concern was now taken care of by the amendments, he said.
