BJP’s stand on nuke deal has not changed: Rajnath

Party president Rajnath Singh fielded questions on Friday about the shift in the BJP’s stand on the nuclear deal. The Indian Express, in its June 12 edition, had reported that the party nuanced its position on the deal “without ceding the nationalist space” after a party core group meeting over a month ago.

“The supposed benefit for the country or the nuclear-deal has nothing to do with the CPI(M). All that the Left parties are worried about is China’s interest. They are afraid that the US and India may together corner China,” Rajnath said. Asked on the change in the party’s position, he added, “Our stand remains unchanged. We are opposed to the deal in the present form, as it is not in the interest of the country.”

Senior leader Venkaiah Naidu said in Hyderabad that the “Manmohan Singh Government did not show maturity in handling the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. He did not take his allies into confidence over the issue.”

The BJP core group meeting had concluded that while the party could never agree to a cap on future nuclear tests, it found the other provisions of the deal acceptable. It had also noted that its pronouncements were not going down well with the party’s middle-class core constituency.