Trust vote headed for close finish

ON a day of mixed tidings, the UPA government on Sunday got a major boost when the five-member Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM) announced its support to the trust vote in Lok Sabha on Tuesday (tomorrow) while Rashtriya Lok Dal switched to the Opposition camp, leaving the treasury benches still short of the magic mark of 271, according to the Indian media.
With worries on how to make up for the numbers, the government, however, got some comfort when suspended DMK member Dayanidhi Maran announced that he would abide by the party line in support of the motion. Likewise, the Hyderabad-based Muslim Majlis also declared that it would give its lone vote in support of the motion.
UPA constituent JMM, which has been keeping the government on tenterhooks, on Sunday ended the suspense when its chief Shibu Soren went to the Janpath residence of Sonia Gandhi along with his four party MPs and pledged support to the government.
In return, he claimed to have got an assurance of being re-inducted into the Cabinet getting Coal portfolio and a berth for one of his MPs as Minister of State.
The government suffered a setback when two small groups - JD (S) and RLD with six MPs in all - on Sunday decided to vote against the trust vote, leaving the ruling coalition at the mercy of independents and single-member groups.
As of now in a house with an effective strength of 541 minus Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, the ruling coalition has the committed support of 260 and the Opposition block 268. However, other calculations put the figure for the government at 265 and 267 against with nine undecided.
The remaining 12, including two from National Conference, one each of Trinamool Congress, MNF and MPF and six independents and a suspended BJP MP hold the key to government survival apart from surprises like cross voting and abstentions.