UPA government cheated people on N-deal: Karat

With the United States making it public that the nuclear deal would be off if India conducts nuclear tests, the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday accused the United Progressive Alliance government of cheating the people of the country on the issue.

"We knew it three months back. The government has cheated the people of the country," Karat told reporters when asked for his reaction on the disclosure of correspondence between the Bush administration and US Congress.

Senior CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat alleged that the Congress-led UPA government has been hiding facts about the controversial nuclear deal from public.

"Now a portion of the facts have become public. Remaining facts on the agreement will also be public soon," she said and demanded that the government should withdraw its bid in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group for a waiver for operationalising the deal.

"It seems the government is hand in glove with the US in the whole process. We demand the government to stop any further step to operationalise the deal," she told reporters.

In a statement, the CPI-M politburo on Wednesday said its stand on the deal stood vindicated with the "disclosures" by the US on the issue and asked the government to suspend all further moves to go ahead with the "anti-national" agreement.

Noting that the US has given "no binding fuel supply assurance" to the country, the party said that the Manmohan Singh government was "thoroughly exposed" before the country for "compromising" India's vital security interests.

It said the 26-page correspondence between US State Department and members of the US Congress made public has revealed that there is no US consent to India's stockpiling of lifetime fuel reserves for safeguard power reactors.