BJP plans privilege notice against PM on nuke deal

Under the rules, the LS Speaker decides on merits whether to allow a privilege motion against any member.

The BJP is planning to move a privilege notice against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly misleading both Houses of Parliament on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

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"Preparations are on (for moving the notice)", BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha told reporters in New Delhi.

BJP sources said the party was collecting and compiling material including testimony by US officials before the Senate and the Foreign Relation Committee of the House of Representative on the deal.

"These testimony and documents prove that many aspects of the agreement were hidden by the Indian Government and this amounts to misleading both Houses of Parliament where the Prime Minister had made separate statements", said a senior party leader.

Under the rules, the Lok Sabha Speaker decides on merits whether to allow a privilege motion against any member.

Referring to the testimony in the US Senate on the Indo-US nuclear deal and the issues and questions being raised there, former External Affairs Minister and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh had recently said, "I don't see any such courtesy on the part of the Indian Government through Parliament or Parliamentarians in India."

He had claimed that according to the April 26 testimony, India has already approached the IAEA for an additional protocol and asked the Government to come clean on the deal.