BJP wants govt to crash under its own sins

NEW DELHI: Keen to make the most of the strained relations between the ruling UPA and its most important prop, the Left, leader of the Opposition LK Advani told the Lok Sabha on Friday that he’d not be happy if the government collapsed as he wanted it to “run its full course so as to enable it to make blunders, commit more mistakes and let their pot of sins be filled up to the brim”.

Mr Advani’s remarks, made during an impromptu debate in the Lok Sabha on the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, are being seen more in the form of a jest as they were laced with sarcasm. It sought to highlight the plight of the Manmohan Singh government, buffeted as it is between an aggressive Opposition and an angry Left.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha after Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had rejected his notice moved under rule 184, which entails voting, seeking a renegotiation of the 123 Agreement, Mr Advani also wanted the government to amend the Constitution so as to enable Parliament to ratify all major international treaties and agreements having a bearing on the country's security and integrity.

But for the most part of his speech, the former deputy prime minister sought to capitalise on the differences that had cropped up between the UPA government and the Left. Though the media was full of reports that the Left would soon sign the “divorce papers’ with the UPA, he remarked that he would not be happy if the government fell.

“I'd rather like the Congress-led coalition to continue and make blunders, commit more mistakes and fill up their pot of sins,” Mr Advani said, with a tinge of sarcasm. While the Opposition was on its feet opposing the nuclear deal and wanted it to be reworked, the ruling alliance, he said, had not been unanimous on it. “... the government's attitude has alienated you (UPA) from your colleagues,” he observed.

The government has allayed apprehensions over the Hyde Act, with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee taking refuge in the observations of US President George Bush, who himself has made it clear that certain provisions in the law are advisory in nature. In the wake of the new disclosures coming up on the perceived dissonance between the UPA government’s claims on the 123 Agreement and the facts on the ground, the government, Mr Advani said, “must bring in a law or, if necessary, amend the Constitution to make it obligatory for all international agreements which impinge on our security and integrity to be ratified by both Houses of Parliament”.

The Prime Minister, he alleged, was “misleading” the House if he said that the Hyde Act would not affect the nuclear deal. Prabhunath Singh (JD-U) charged the Congress-led coalition with compromising the sovereignty of the country on the nuclear issue, which was in sharp contrast to the stand taken by the Vajpayee government, which had conducted atomic tests without bothering for the reaction of the world powers.

Former Union minister Braj Kishore Tripathi (BJD) made a strong plea for renegotiating the deal while BJP deputy leader VK Malhotra wanted the Speaker to change the wording of the motion given by the Opposition, but to have it under rule 184, which requires voting.