Criticising the Communist parties for their stand on the India-United States nuclear agreement, senior Congress leader and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said they were opposing every step the United Progressive Alliance government was taking to develop the country.

"Those who say they are fighting communal forces are trying to bring down the UPA government. We cannot understand the ideology of the Communists. They are not the nationalists we thought they were," she said while addressing women Congress workers in Kerala [Images].

Maintaining that the Congress has built the nation 'brick by brick', she said it was a shame to note that some partners of the ruling UPA do not see India in the same perspective as the Congress does. "Why don't they want India to prosper, do well and sign the nuclear deal?" she asked.

Dikshit alleged that the Left parties owe allegiance to countries outside India and not India. "Why do they oppose it for India and not for their supposed friends -- China and Russia [Images]?, she asked, adding, "They do something, mean something else and say a third thing".

On the Nandigram issue, she said in West Bengal, there have been riots when poor farmers had not been given their rightful compensation for their land.

She alleged the Left parties had one set of parameters for their government in West Bengal, another for the country and yet another for the UPA government, she said.

Dikshit said Congress President Sonia Gandhi [Images] has given development a 'human face'. Farmers and women of India have all got relief in the budget. "Thanks to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], India's growth rate has touched nine per cent," she said.

"The nuclear deal is going to benefit each one of us, take the country forward and bring about development never seen before. The UPA government wanted to sign the deal which would benefit all," Dikshit said.

CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat and other Marxist leaders had nothing to say except that they would oppose the nuclear deal, she said.

On the Union Budget, Dikshit said it was a shame that Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani described it as a communal budget.

All India Congress Committee General Secretary in-charge of Kerala Mohsina Kidwai also criticised the Left parties for their stand on the nuclear deal.
 
She claimed the Congress was instrumental in building a strong infrastructure for the country, which was the reason for its development. "Now students from abroad are coming to India in pursuit of higher studies while a few years ago it was vice versa," she said.

Veteran leader K Karunakaran, who was the chief guest, praised the Indo-US nuclear deal and lashed out at the Communists for their opposition.

He appealed to the women party workers to work hard to ensure the party's success in the elections due next year and expressed confidence that over 50 per cent of Congress leaders would win from Kerala in the parliamentary polls.