07-22-2008, 01:44 AM
<b>Battle moves into last lap, UPA banks on abstentions</b>
New Delhi (PTI): The battle over UPA government's survival moved into last lap with the ruling combine claiming that sizeable opposition abstentions will help it win the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserting that every decision of the coalition was in country's interests.
The ruling combine and the opposition are almost equally poised in the House with an effective strength of 541 in the trust vote to be taken tomorrow evening and the UPA managers are banking on nearly ten abstentions, all of them from NDA camp, and by Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee.
But the BJP dismissed all this as mischievous propaganda. The BJP as well as others against the confidence motion claimed that the opposition had a fair chance in the Parliamentary battle.
Treasury bench managers claimed that they will win comfortably when the confidence motion moved by the Prime Minister is taken up for voting on Tuesday evening. The margin of victory being bandied about by the ruling side is about six to seven votes above the required magic mark of 271.
Moving his one-line motion at the beginning of the two-day debate on the motion, a combative Prime Minister said the exercise of confidence was "wholly avoidable" and has come at a time when the government's attention has been on the economy, particularly on control of inflation.
The ruling combine fielded External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, government's pointsman on the Indo-US nuclear deal who shared a good rapport with the Left parties, put up a spirited defence of the government.
<b>
Don't jump off the running train: Mukherjee
"Keep your hand on your heart and say is this an issue on which you are bringing down the government," Mukherjee said attacking the Communists for its decision to vote along with the BJP to defeat it.</b>
"Don't jump off the running train. Wait for the next station which the train is approaching to get off," he told the Left parties to avoid voting with the BJP.
The body language of the UPA in a packed Lok Sabha, which has an effective strength of 541, appeared confident and combative as Mukherjee claimed that the Congress-led alliance has the support of 276.
<span style='color:red'>
The ruling side hopes that some five abstentions--two each from BJP and JD(U) and one from Shiv Sena-- and some more from the rival camp not not in a position to travel because of their ill-health would come to its aid in the vote that is exepcted to be a cliff-hanger of a finish.</span>
However, BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra described these claims as "mischievous propaganda" and said the NDA was in tact. He also dismissed in a similar vein reports that the BJP was lackadaisical in toppling the government on fears that BSP leader Mayawati may corner all credit if the government fell.
NDA sources, however, conceded that losses in the form of defection by BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh and the possible absence of Shiv Sena MP Tukaram Renge Patil, who is said to be miffed with his party leadership. One more MP from Karnataka, who is in ICU, is a doubtful starter.
New Delhi (PTI): The battle over UPA government's survival moved into last lap with the ruling combine claiming that sizeable opposition abstentions will help it win the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserting that every decision of the coalition was in country's interests.
The ruling combine and the opposition are almost equally poised in the House with an effective strength of 541 in the trust vote to be taken tomorrow evening and the UPA managers are banking on nearly ten abstentions, all of them from NDA camp, and by Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee.
But the BJP dismissed all this as mischievous propaganda. The BJP as well as others against the confidence motion claimed that the opposition had a fair chance in the Parliamentary battle.
Treasury bench managers claimed that they will win comfortably when the confidence motion moved by the Prime Minister is taken up for voting on Tuesday evening. The margin of victory being bandied about by the ruling side is about six to seven votes above the required magic mark of 271.
Moving his one-line motion at the beginning of the two-day debate on the motion, a combative Prime Minister said the exercise of confidence was "wholly avoidable" and has come at a time when the government's attention has been on the economy, particularly on control of inflation.
The ruling combine fielded External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, government's pointsman on the Indo-US nuclear deal who shared a good rapport with the Left parties, put up a spirited defence of the government.
<b>
Don't jump off the running train: Mukherjee
"Keep your hand on your heart and say is this an issue on which you are bringing down the government," Mukherjee said attacking the Communists for its decision to vote along with the BJP to defeat it.</b>
"Don't jump off the running train. Wait for the next station which the train is approaching to get off," he told the Left parties to avoid voting with the BJP.
The body language of the UPA in a packed Lok Sabha, which has an effective strength of 541, appeared confident and combative as Mukherjee claimed that the Congress-led alliance has the support of 276.
<span style='color:red'>
The ruling side hopes that some five abstentions--two each from BJP and JD(U) and one from Shiv Sena-- and some more from the rival camp not not in a position to travel because of their ill-health would come to its aid in the vote that is exepcted to be a cliff-hanger of a finish.</span>
However, BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra described these claims as "mischievous propaganda" and said the NDA was in tact. He also dismissed in a similar vein reports that the BJP was lackadaisical in toppling the government on fears that BSP leader Mayawati may corner all credit if the government fell.
NDA sources, however, conceded that losses in the form of defection by BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh and the possible absence of Shiv Sena MP Tukaram Renge Patil, who is said to be miffed with his party leadership. One more MP from Karnataka, who is in ICU, is a doubtful starter.