New Delhi, Aug. 6: The BJP’s extreme position on the Indo-US nuclear deal appears to have been born out of pique and politics, rather than reason and rationale.

Party insiders agree that the primary motivation was what they described as the “hypocrisy” of the communists, not the distrust of Americans, and doubt if the issue would be dragged beyond a point.

“The main objective was to expose the Left — that they will side with the government on vital issues and the demonstration of principled opposition was a sham meant for gullible supporters,” a party leader said, adding the BJP didn’t see any demon in the details of the deal.

“We are broadly satisfied as most of the concerns raised by us have been taken care of.”

But the party’s public posturing does not reflect any difference of opinion as top leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha, decided the strategy. Party chief Rajnath Singh did not attend that meeting because he was in the Northeast.

“The opposition to the deal is clear and endorsed by the top leadership,” spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told The Telegraph today.

But sources in the BJP revealed in private conversations that the “activist role” was thrust upon the party mainly by Sinha and Arun Shourie while both Vajpayee and Advani only wanted a token protest against certain uncomfortable points. “Don’t read too much into what Yashwant Sinha says, he is sidelined in the party and is trying to please the RSS,” one leader said.

That the party sent a notice for a debate in Parliament under Rule 184, which entails voting, is the most tangible manifestation of a climbdown from its firm demand for a joint parliamentary committee to scan the text of the agreement. Although Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the BJP’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, said “the demand for a JPC had not been abandoned”, it is obvious that the BJP was keen to see which way the Left votes in Parliament.

That surely, the sources said, is the party’s game plan as the Left cannot have its cake and eat it too. “We want to tell the nation that the communists were enjoying the power and all its meaningless bluster against the government was a ploy to protect its constituency. We will insist the debate take place under 184 only as we want voting. We will oppose as we are in opposition but the Left cannot be allowed to encroach upon the opposition space,” a younger party MP said.

The dominant view in the party is that the deal is only the culmination of what the Vajpayee government started and there is no reason for India to reject it. The two veterans, Vajpayee and Advani, who may express some concern on some points, however, have not spoken on the subject.

A party functionary pointed out that earlier statements on the nuclear deal were signed by Vajpayee, but the most important issued after the agreement was signed by Sinha and Shourie. This explains the real position.

There are certain elements in the party who are extremely upset by the blunt rejection of the deal by the spokespersons. They feel the commitment to review the deal after coming to power and describing it as an assault on India’s nuclear sovereignty were uncalled for.