<b>Cong 'surprised' at RLD decision, but 'confident of winning'</b>
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress has expressed "surprise" at the decision of RLD chief Ajit Singh to oppose the UPA government during the trust vote but maintained that it would have no impact on the majority which the ruling coalition enjoys.
"RLD's decision was a sort of surprise but we are ready with the numbers and confident of winning the trust vote," Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of state in the PMO, said here.
Chavan claimed "surprises" would be there as the Congress has a "cushion" of support from parties other than the UPA partners.
"Surprises would happen at the last minute. A lot of work has gone into it," the Congress leader said.
<b>
Lone Bodo MP to vote for UPA</b>
New Delhi (PTI): The lone Bodoland People's Front (BPF) MP Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary will vote for the UPA government during the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
"We are in the Congress-led coalition government in Assam. So it is obvious," Bwiswmuthiary told PTI when asked whom he would vote for.
BPF Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary said a delegation of the party has met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and conveyed its decision to support the UPA government.
"Our Lok Sabha MP will vote for the UPA," Daimary said.
<b>Rahul Gandhi among UPA speakers during trust vote</b>
New Delhi (PTI): Congress' heir apparent Rahul Gandhi will be one of the key speakers of the party during the debate on the confidence motion on Monday in which Leader of Opposition L K Advani is also expected to participate.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will move the motion in the Lok Sabha with a one-line motion -- That this House expresses its confidence in the Council of Ministers -- with an opening speech.
<b>
He is expected to highlight the performance of his four-year-old government and emphasise how and why the Indo-US nuclear deal is beneficial to the country in the long term.</b>
At the end of the two-day debate, he is also expected to reply to it before the motion is put to vote.
Rahul Gandhi, along with top leaders of the Congress as also its supporting parties are expected to participate in the discussion. These include Congress Ministers P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Saifuddin Soz, and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who was part of the UPA-Left Coordination Committee.
Other Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, Vayalar Ravi, Ram Vilas Paswan, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Anand Sharma, Praful Patel, M Ramadass, Sachin Pilot, Krishna Tirath and Kanimozhi will also speak on the behalf of the UPA.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Leader of Lok Sabha, could be intervening in the two-day long discussion.
On the eve of the Trust motion, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon briefed most of the UPA speakers, including Rahul Gandhi, on the intricate details of nuclear deal to prepare them well for the debate.
<b>
UNPA hopeful of securing support of more parties</b>
New Delhi (PTI): As the UNPA along with BSP and the Left declared their resolve to oust UPA on July 22, the alliance is hopeful of garnering support of more parties.
The UNPA meeting witnessed the participation of Left parties like CPI, CPI(M), RSP, and Forward Bloc and UNPA constituents like Telugu Desam Party, Asom Gana Parishad, Indian National Lok Dal and Jharkhand Vikas Party.
BSP supremo Mayawati also attended the meeting, and UNPA leaders hinted that she would soon be given a formal invitation to join the alliance.
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu also emphasised that UNPA would be garnering support of all like-minded parties.
Though as of now UNPA's one-point agenda is to pull down the UPA government by voting against it, there is every possibility that the third alliance would grow further.
"We will get support of more parties," AGP leader Brindaban Goswami told reporters, though he refused to comment on the possibility of any NDA constituent joining the UNPA.
Another leader of the UNPA told PTI that with JD(S), Ajit Singh's RLD and TRS also thinking on "similar lines" as UNPA, its strength would only grow in the coming days.
<b>Division in NLP; lone MP to vote for Govt.</b>
New Delhi (PTI): Divisions surfaced in National Loktantrik Party (NLP) Sunday, with its lone Lok Sabha MP Baleshwar Yadav deciding to vote for the government in defiance of the party whip.
"I will vote for UPA on July 22," Yadav, an MP from Padrauna in Uttar Pradesh, told PTI.
Yadav met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convey his support for the government.
Reacting to Yadav's comments, NLP president Arshad Khan said, "we have already issued a whip asking our party MP to vote against the UPA government during the trust vote. And if our MP defies party whip, we will take appropriate action at the right time."
Earlier, Khan had alleged that his party was approached with an offer of Rs 15 crore for voting for the government.
However, Yadav denied reports of having receiving any money.
<b>All parties to meet on July 23: Gowda</b>
New Delhi (PTI): After keeping the UPA on tenterhooks for almost a fortnight, the JD(S) today announced that it would vote against the Government during the July 22 trust vote in Lok Sabha and indicated it was joining ranks with the third front.
JD(S) chief Deve Gowda said all the three MPs of his party had collectively decided to vote against the government.
He made the announcement soon after BSP chief Mayawati met him.
With Mayawati standing by his side, Gowda said all the parties, who are opposed to the UPA dispensation, will meet on July 23 to chalk out the next strategy.
"All parties, big and small, will meet on July 23 to think over issues like price rise, nuclear deal, poverty," he said, adding they will release a document on these.
Mayawati thanked Gowda for taking the decision to vote against the government and said all the like-minded parties will join in fight against the UPA government.
<b>
Mamata to announce her decision tomorrow</b>
Kolkata (PTI): Keeping the media guessing whether she would attend the Lok Sabha for the crucial trust vote, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said she would announce a decision in this regard on Monday.
"A section of the media has said that I am not attending (the Lok Sabha) for the trust vote. I can tell you that I have not spoken to the media in the matter and whatever they have written is their own opinion," she told reporters.
She said she had booked two tickets for Delhi and that any decision regarding her attendance in the Lok Sabha during the trust vote would be taken by the party collectively.
<b>Amending domestic law will not have bearing on US: scientist</b>
New Delhi (PTI): As the government said it was open to the idea of amending the domestic law to counter the impact of the US Hyde Act on the country's energy security, a top former nuclear scientist on Sunday said it would have no influence on American actions in case India conducted another nuclear test.
Maintaining that the Atomic Energy Act could certainly be amended to ensure private participation in the nuclear power sector, former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman P K Iyengar said in a statement "if we pass a law saying that we will retain the right to test, it will have no influence on the actions of the US.
"If and when we test, they can simply quote the 123 Agreement and the Hyde Act and pull out all their nuclear materials, leaving us devastated."
Observing that many people including parliamentarians were supporting the Indo-US nuclear deal due to certain "misconceptions", he said just as the Hyde Act was "not binding on us, our laws are not binding on the US".
"The only option here is to re-negotiate the 123 Agreement and have the clause inserted there. However, the Americans are unlikely to agree to this, since it goes against their non-proliferation policy," Iyengar said, adding that India was not a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty.
<!--QuoteBegin-G.Subramaniam+Jul 20 2008, 07:07 PM-->QUOTE(G.Subramaniam @ Jul 20 2008, 07:07 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->I actually support the UPA
in this
A win for the UPA will mean that anti-commie economic reforms can be pursued freely
It will also weaken the commies
In addition, by waiting another 10 months, the BJP will have a better shot
A loss for UPA will mean Mayawati as PM depending on left support
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I too get the same feeling.
- If there is a victory for UPA, Mayavati will be butchered into pieces by Mulayam. Next UP election will be between SP/INC vs BJP. Muslims, already upset with Mulayam will be split or may not go out to vote. (Personally I feel Mayavati's policies are better for India than Mulayam's).
- It will damage third front.
- Most of the small parties will come to NDA for next election. BJP will get upper hand in negotiations.
- MMS' image of Mr clean will be lost forever. Sonia's corrupt practices will be well known to everybody in India.
- It will be difficult for all those small parties who supported UPA to get elected again, since it is obvious that they took money to support UPA.
- Only negative thing is the fall out in signing nuke deal. BJP should think of a strategy to counter the negative fall out, after the deal is signed.
- If UPA loses, Mayavati will become PM, but she will need support from either Congress or BJP. SP will not allow Congress to support her, and BJP said it prefers election. Even if she becomes PM, economy will be in a greater mess as she has to take left's support. It will be a an advantage for BJP (not necessarily for India, but tolerable since she is going to be in power only for 6 months).
- Risk is, next one will be a triangular election and UP may be swept by Mayavati, so NDA will be dependent on her. That will be bad because of her arbitrary behavior and her new found closeness to left.
- In general I think BJP should, behind the scene, encourage Akalis to support MMS since he is Sikh, while carrying forward the propaganda against UPA and MMS' corrupt practices in full throttle.
<b>Samajwadi claims support of 7 to 8 BSP MPs
</b>
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav with General Secretary Amar Singh and Jaya Prada at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday. PTI
New Delhi (PTI): With desertions in its camp, the Samajwadi Party today put up a brave front claiming that seven to eight MPs from BSP will switch sides to vote in support of the UPA Government in Lok Sabha on July 22.
At a press conference here, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav admitted that some MPs had deserted his party but claimed that it has been more than made up with MPs from other parties.
"We have plenty of them. They (MPs from other parties) are making entry through backdoor where there are no TV cameras. Seven to eight BSP MPs are inside my house," said party General Secretary Amar Singh, sitting next to Yadav.
The SP chief claimed that support of 287 MPs have already been mustered in favour of the confidence motion. The UPA Government needs 271 votes for victory.
Yadav alleged that BSP, BJP, Left parties and UNPA were luring MPs supporting the government by offering up to Rs 5 crores for abstaining during the vote.
<!--QuoteBegin-acharya+Jul 20 2008, 11:17 PM-->QUOTE(acharya @ Jul 20 2008, 11:17 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Amending domestic law will not have bearing on US: scientist</b>
New Delhi (PTI): As the government said it was open to the idea of amending the domestic law to counter the impact of the US Hyde Act on the country's energy security, a top former nuclear scientist on Sunday said it would have no influence on American actions in case India conducted another nuclear test.
Maintaining that the Atomic Energy Act could certainly be amended to ensure private participation in the nuclear power sector, former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman P K Iyengar said in a statement "if we pass a law saying that we will retain the right to test, it will have no influence on the actions of the US.
"If and when we test, they can simply quote the 123 Agreement and the Hyde Act and pull out all their nuclear materials, leaving us devastated."
Observing that many people including parliamentarians were supporting the Indo-US nuclear deal due to certain "misconceptions", he said just as the Hyde Act was "not binding on us, our laws are not binding on the US".
"The only option here is to re-negotiate the 123 Agreement and have the clause inserted there. However, the Americans are unlikely to agree to this, since it goes against their non-proliferation policy," Iyengar said, adding that India was not a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is what happens when scientists start talking about legal things.
I think the local law should have required clauses that may go against many of the clauses in 123/IAEA/NSG agrements (eg. India need not return items that are paid for) and every Indian deal will be bound by those laws. Any country that signing a supply deal will have to agree to those clauses. If they don't, there is no deal with them. Countries who want big deals with India have to agree that they will not excercise IAEA provisions to take them back (Russia will be happy with this).
I'm sure there are many other ways to handle it.
Loser will be Indian junta, who are fooled by Sonia, Moron Singh and Babus in ministry who just think about making money, foreign tours and shopping for wife or mistress.
This had exposed corrupt Manmohan Singh and Gandhi family.
Role of India Inc should not be ignored, they are just to make money at any cost, they are behaving like East India Company.
ManMohan Singh = Jaichand
India Inc = East India Company
Sonia = British colonial operator
Indian Babus = Nawabs during colonial rule.
MP = Mujara girls/Khota girls.
<b>
Lone MP of MIM to vote for UPA</b>
Hyderabad (PTI): The lone MP of Majlis-e Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) on Sunday said he would vote in favour of UPA Government during the trial of strength in Lok Sabha on July 22.
"Our basic aim is to stop the BJP from coming to power," Asaduddin Owaisi told PTI here.
MIM is a constituent of the UPA but Owaisi had been holding his cards close to his chest.
Owaisi said the stand has been taken after going into all aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal "which is in no way against a particular community".
<b>
"Some parties are trying to bring division between Muslims and other communities on the issue, which is not acceptable," he said. </b>
<b>The government and the N-deal are doomed: Karat</b>
Onkar Singh in New Delhi | July 20, 2008 18:06 IST
The opposition to the Manmohan Singh [Images] government gained further momentum on Sunday with the United National Progressive Alliance, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Left parties jointly declaring their resolve to go for the kill.
"Our one-point programme is to oust the UPA government on July 22," declared BSP supremo Mayawati in the presence of Communist Party of India � Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat and Communist party of India leader A B Bardhan.
Karat expressed confidence that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government will lose the trust vote on July 22.
<b>
"The deal is doomed and so is the government," Karat said at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday.
"We discussed strategies to topple the UPA government at the residence of Telugu Desam Party leader Yerran Naidu. The government had made a commitment that it would not sign the nuclear deal before securing the vote of confidence in Parliament. But the officials of the government hurried through the deal and left for Vienna to get the deal okayed by the International Atomic Energy Agency," he said.
</b>
He warned the government of a 'revolt' if it tried to push the nuclear deal in spite of losing the vote of confidence. "We will meet on July 23 and decide our future course of action," informed Karat.
Leaders from various political parties � including Chandrababu Naidu [Images] from the TDP, H D Kumaraswamy from the Janata Dal - Secular, CPI-M leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, A B Bardhan and D Raja from CPI, BSP supremo Mayawati and Abani Roy from the Forward Bloc � attended the meeting at Naidu's residence.
He accused Mulayam Singh Yadav of betraying the Left parties on three different occasions -- in 1999, during the presidential election in 2002 and now -- when he has teamed up with the Congress.
"At one time, he had led the secular forces in Uttar Pradesh and now he has lost that authority," Karat said.
<b>UPA will definitely lose trust vote: BJP</b>
Vicky Nanjappa | July 20, 2008 21:16 IST
The National Democratic Alliance is united in its stand and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance will definitely lose the trust vote on July 22, according to Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament D Sadananda Gowda.
He told rediff.com that he has been following the political developments closely and at the moment it seems that 269 MPs will vote against the deal.
"However, we are confident that a couple of more MPs will cross over and vote against the UPA," he said.
Gowda added that his party is sure that the Congress will not have the requisite numbers on the D-day.
He denied that the rise of the Third Front, in the backdrop of the present political turmoil, has shaken up the NDA camp.
Gowda expressed confidence that Mayawati and the Third Front do not have the requisite number to form the government if the UPA government loses the trust vote.
But the NDA will have the requisite strength to form the government after the UPA is toppled, but that is not on the agenda, he pointed out.
On BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's decision to side with the UPA during the trust vote, he said that the party has not discussed the matter as yet.
"I really don't know what his considerations were and we have not given a thought about it," Gowda said.
"No decision had been taken on whether the matter would be taken to the privileges committee," he added.
<b>Trust vote: Watch out for a nail biting finish!</b>
July 20, 2008 20:20 IST
As the Manmohan Singh [Images] government seeks a trust vote on July 22, the political drama in the run up to the two-day special session of Parliament has all the trappings of a nail-biting finish witnessed in April 1999 when the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government lost by a single vote.
With number crunching and political pundits indicating a precariously-placed United Progressive Alliance taking on an equally-uncertain opposition, it is now anybody's guess what would be the fate of the government on the D-day.
The pulls and pressures of the ruling coalition and the opposition to woo every available single vote for their respective side will be played out till the ballot is cast on the floor of the Parliament on Tuesday.
The UPA would only have to keep its fingers crossed, even as it prays that there would be no parliamentarian like Giridhar Gamang or Saifuddin Soz to pull down this government.
Gamang was chief minister of Orissa, but had not yet resigned his Lok Sabha seat and cast his vote that hit the last nail in the Vajpayee government's coffin.
The Vajpayee government that had come to power in 1998 was in crisis when All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa withdrew her support on certain issues. However, Vajpayee was successful in quickly obtaining the support of her bete noire M Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam.
But that assistance from Karunanidhi did not prove enough for Vajpayee. His government lost the trust vote by 269 to 270. Soz, now a minister at the Centre, was then a member of the National Conference and had defied his party's whip and voted against the government.
Today, both the ruling UPA and opposition National Democratic Alliance are doing some tight rope walking and attempting to garner the support of the fence-sitters.
<b>Numbers Game: All eyes on independent MPs</b>
Vicky Nanjappa and Krishnakumar P | July 20, 2008 18:46 IST
Last Updated: July 20, 2008 22:01 IST
With two days to go before the United Progressive Alliance seeks the vote of confidence in Parliament, the Congress and the its opponents are both vying for the support of the independent Members of Parliament.
Though the six independent MPs in the Parliament are yet to declare their stance on the India-United States nuclear agreement, at least four of them have already made up their minds.
Earlier today, four independent MPs met Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and discussed their future course of action. SP leader Amar Singh told a press conference that some independent MPs were in touch with his party, but refused to divulge their names.
The Congress camp is confident that it has the support of at least three independent MPs, including the two from north-east.
Independent MP Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary will vote for the UPA government during the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
"We are in the Congress-led coalition government in Assam. So it is obvious," Bwiswmuthiary said.
He has presented a list of demands for supporting the UPA. " These are related to the development of Bodoland and for the betterment of the Bodo people," Bwiswmuthiary said.
Manipur MP Mani Charenmei will vote for the UPA government in the July 22 trust vote, Assam Congress president Bhubaneshwar Kalita said on Sunday.
"Mani Charenmei will vote for the UPA government," Kalita said.
He, however, did not say anything on whether an arrangement was reached with Charenmei on the issue.
Sources said Charenmei had asked for a commitment from the Centre on unification of Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast.
Chhewang Thupstan, independent MP from Ladakh, is also likely to vote for the UPA. The MP reportedly discussed the matter with his supporters in Ladakh before taking a decision.
But former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi, who is now an independent MP, has made up his mind to vote against the UPA.
"The government has to go. And since the trust vote is on the issue of the nuclear deal, I will vote against the government," he told rediff.com.
"The nuclear deal is against our nation's interest and I will vote against any move that is against the interest of the nation," Marandi added.
<b>Dinners in Delhi, UPA, NDA lay out a spread</b>
Onkar Singh in New Delhi | July 20, 2008 22:36 IST
The capital witnessed two seperate dinners where the who's who of Indian politics gathered to decide whether the government would stay or fall, leading to elections ahead of schedule.
While the prime minister threw a grand party for the United Progressive Alliance's supporters at the Ashok Hotel
L K Advani had to remain content with hosting his guests at the Parliamentary annexe.
While the prime minister's party was in full swing with some MPs choosing to come late, The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies called it a day early by finishing off the dinner by 8 pm.
Advani in his address told the party men and his colleagues from other allied partners that they would come to power.
Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Shourie, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu were some of the prominent leaders who attended the National Democratic Alliance's dinner.
Two Akali Dal members did not show-up for the dinner but their absence was made up for by Kuldeep Bishnoi and Harish Nagpal.
Bishnoi claimed that he had been offered Rs 100 crore to abstain during the trust vote. "On Friday evening I was approached with an offer of Rs 100 crore to abstain from the trust vote. I was also offered a ministership in return of supporting the nuclear deal," Bishnoi told media-persons.
Asked whether he will be joining the NDA, the son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal said, "I have decided to vote against the UPA government but as for joining the NDA, I will decide it later".
Additional Reportage: PTI
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->'The MIM has been given Rs 5,000 crore'
July 20, 2008 | 16:48 IST
Asaduddin Owaisi, a British-trained barrister, is the public face of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. The son of party president Salahuddin Owaisi, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Hyderabad, a Muslim-dominated constituency and MIM citadel. Owaisi, 35, has announced his support to the United Progressive Alliance government during the trust vote in the Lok Sabha. A decision that has surprised many, given the impression that Muslims are opposed to the India-US nuclear deal<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Time is critical and crucial for nuke deal says Congress</b>
New Delhi (PTI): Noting the immense benefits of Information and Technology revolution, Congress on Sunday night said that the opportunity for ushering in a multi-dimensional change in the country in view of the nuclear deal should not be overlooked of by Lok Sabha MPs during the trust vote on July 22.
<b>
"Next 10 to 15 years there will be a nuclear revolution in India. Similar to the IT revolution existing now creating employment potential and GDP. Fifteen years from now people will be thankful to those who have sowed the seeds with this nuclear deal,</b>" AICC media department Chairman M Veerappa Moily said in a statement.
In the 80s, late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ushered in the IT revolution and the employment potential which was talked of those days on IT revolution has now become a reality. The vision of Rajiv Gandhi was fully realised, he said.
"If India wants to be the 2nd or 3rd largest economy in the world by 2050 we need to have the nuclear deal of the kind which is now before the country. Time is critical and crucial, If we don't act today, we may have to regret later," he said.
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