Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said that the government has lost its moral and political authority to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal after the Left's decision to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance.
"The BJP believes that a minority government does not have either the political or moral legitimacy to go ahead with a major international agreement," party spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The BJP has taken note of the Prime Minister's statement on Monday that he would follow all parliamentary norms. This enjoins upon him the obligation not to go ahead with the next steps to conclude the Indo-US nuclear deal, he added.
The party also demanded that the government convene an emergency session of Parliament to seek a vote of confidence.
"The BJP demands that an emergency session of Parliament be convened immediately. The question whether the government enjoys majority support must be ascertained on the floor of the House, and in no other manner," Prasad said in a statement.
The office bearers of the BJP, which held a meeting in New Delhi led by party chief Rajnath Singh in the residence of senior party leader L K Advani, sought to allege the UPA government of 'failing miserably' in governance.
"The UPA has failed miserably to provide the governance and stability that the country needs. No government has undermined institutions and norms, no government has bent to foreign powers as has this government," the release added.
The BJP sought to claim that the Manmohan Singh government had been 'disastrous and has messed up the country's affairs'.
"The issue before the country is not the nuclear deal alone. A far bigger issue is whether a government whose performance has been disastrous on all fronts should be allowed to continue any longer. The UPA government has messed up the country's affairs on all fronts," the statement after the meeting said.
The time has come to liberate the country from the 'misrule' of the Congress-led government, it added.
Inside sources said the BJP meeting also made a threadbare discussion on the number of MPs after the 'disintegration of the United National Progressive Alliance' on either sides of the UPA and the National Democratic Alliance.
"The focus now is not to be desperate to pull down the government. The party is seeking to keep its flock intact for the time being and would build up on the pro-NDA wave towards the election to win over more allies," a party leader present in the meeting said.
The issue of Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's continuance or non-continuance was also discussed, he added.
Sources said the NDA meeting slated for Wednesday would discuss when to meet the President over the demand to force the government to seek a vote of confidence but that would again depend on the approach of the government.
The BJP may also attempt to let any of its smaller allies in the NDA to move a no-confidence motion against the government, if the situation demands
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