As N-bill is passed, Cong-BJP bonhomie in LS

NEW DELHI: The discussion on controversial civil nuclear bill, which had led to frequent sparring between the BJP and Congress in the recent past, on Wednesday saw a rare bonhomie when the two parties patted each other's back after reaching a consensus on the proposed legislation.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan was the first one to reach out to the opposition when he gave credit to the erstwhile BJP-led NDA regime for initiating the civil nuclear regime.

"I would like to acknowledge here the work done by the then Government in 2002 (NDA) 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," Chavan said while moving the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha.

The principal opposition was not behind in showering praise on the Congress-led UPA government for the manner in which tried to build a consensus among political parties on the proposed 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," senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who initiated the debate on behalf of his party, said.

He also commended Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee for his efforts.

"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," Singh said.

Though Jaswant Singh's speech was critical of the government on certain aspects of the civil nuclear bill, many considered it mild in content.

Outside the House, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy expressed satisfaction with the government's approach, saying most concerns of his party on the bill had been taken care of.

"We had earlier expressed deep concerns about the civil nuclear bill... We are happy that the government has incorporated our suggestions in the bill," Rudy said.

He said the main opposition wanted the proposed 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 Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia, RJD, SP and other members in the Standing Committee on Science and Technology. Perhaps no other bill has seen so much churning," Rudy said.

Asked if BJP's concerns on the bill favouring the US and being pushed under pressure from the Barack Obama administration had been addressed, Rudy said, "US 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 had now been taken care of by the amendments, he said.

Some of BJP's main concerns on the bill were that there should be no private operator, the operator's liability should be complete, liability should be fixed for any damage during transportation of nuclear equipment, suppliers' liability should be fixed and there should be no-fault liability.

"We wanted that the government bring a comprehensive bill. With a set of six amendments being moved, almost all concerns have been met," Rudy said.

18 amendments were moved by Chavan, two by Jaswant Singh and CPI(M) member Basudev Acharia, among others.

Rudy said BJP should also get credit for changes in the right of recourse of operator to supplier, incorporating other definitions on environment protection, jurisdiction of respective high court and the Supreme Court, and ensuring immediate relief to the victim and his family by getting compensation without litigation.