New Delhi: Differing from his opinion with regard to the civil nuclear deal between India-United States, the Bhartiya Janata Party today clearly distanced itself from former president and one time favorite of the party A P J Abdul Kalam by saying that the deal is not in the interest of the country. Addressing presspersons party's spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad, however, said that BJP has great respect for the scientist, who was hailed by the same party as “people's president”..

“We have high regards for Kalam but we are differing from his opinion (expressed while terming the deal in the national interest). And I think we have all right to differ. The deal is not in the national interest in the present form,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The former president, who had always spoken in favour of the deal, discussed for the first time on Thursday about the ramifications of the deal vis-a-vis sovereignty and independent foreign policy of India with a political party when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh and party leader Amar Singh called on Kalam. Later riding on his opinion SP, who is leading the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), looked 'satisfied' and prepared to pursue other constituents of the UNPA for seconding the Congress led government at the Centre over the deal.

Reiterating his party's stand over the energy deal, Prasad said that despite all debates, the United States had not clarified that the provisions of Hyde Act would have no implications over India. He also sidelined the opinion of Kalam that India need not conduct more atomic tests. He said, “Keeping in mind the imperialistic policies pursued by China in our neighbourhood, we can not freeze the tests forever.”

He also condemned the efforts of painting the deal in communal colours by CPI(M) and BSP and said that foreign policy of the country had been made captive of communal politics of a few political entities. In response to a question, Prasad refuted the linkage, that is being established by BSP and earlier by CPM that the deal was anti-muslim.

The BJP also lambasted the ongoing political chemistry in the respect of nuclear deal as opportunistic in nature and said that it would lead governance to a serious casualty. “The very existence of UPA was the result of declared political negativism that is anti BJP. There was no other common ground. This subsequently degenerated into a politics known as the UNPA and switch over to the UPA and other like the Communist are waiting for the opportune date to withdraw support,” he said.

He also termed the UPA as artificial alliance which had only anti-BJPism as its agenda and said that such type of politics should have no scope in the vibrant democracy like India. “They will not succeed in halting the consistent march of the BJP,” said Prasad. He also refuted the claims of any negotiation between SP and BJP.