Left rejects Govt response to its objections

Left parties says they were not convinced with even a "single contention of the government" on the issue.

Ahead of the crucial meeting to resolve differences on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Left parties on Tuesday rejected government's response to their objections on the accord, saying they were not convinced with even a "single contention of the government" on the issue.

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"We are not conviced with even a single contention of the government. It is a lawyers' contention," CPI leader AB Bardhan told reporters after an over 90-minute meeting among Left leaders.

He was replying to a question on whether the Left leaders agreed with government's contention on the 123 agreement.

"We have rebuffed, refuted whatever the government has said," Bardhan observed.

"Today, we have prepared a sort of reply to their (government) reply and we will discuss it on that basis," the CPI leader said.

On the remarks made by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar at Vienna, Bardhan said "Kakodkar has given a speech in a conference. He has not been discussing India-specific safeguards".

He said the Left parties were wanting more time so that the issue could be discussed in Parliament.