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.

The opposition to the Manmohan Singh government gained further momentum with the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties jointly declaring their resolve to go for the kill.

Emerging as the key player in the political drama unfolding ahead of trust vote, BSP chief Mayawati Sunday said the Opposition camp had the "numbers" to topple the Manmohan Singh government.

"Our one-point programme is to oust the UPA government on July 22," declared BSP supremo Mayawati in the presence of CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and CPI leader A B Bardhan as also TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu.

Echoing similar sentiments, Karat, who has vowed to make the Congress-led coalition bite dust on the issue of nuclear deal, said, addressing a joint Press conference, "we don't want the government to remain in power after July 22."

These parties have a combined strength of 85 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Mayawati, who has emerged as the focal point in the moves to oust UPA government and is being talked about as the next Prime Ministerial candidate by some parties like TRS and TDP, said that the parties would decide on the future strategy on July 23, a day after the trust vote.

The press conference came at the end of the intense consultations among UNPA leaders, Mayawati and Left parties on a day when there were good tidings for the combination with RLD supremo Ajit Singh declaring his support to their cause.

INLD's Ajay Chautala, AGP's Brindavan Goswami, Jharkhand leader Babulal Marandi and CPI leader D Raja were present at the meeting which devised the strategy to topple the UPA government. The meeting was held at 9, Safdarjang Road, the residence of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP K Yerran Naidu.