VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR UPA GOVT GOES DOWN TO WIRE

New Delhi: It is a battle that promises to go down to the wire. The UPA government still has not managed the numbers to prove its majority in Parliament on July 22.
With just five more days to go for the floor test, desperation in the UPA government is now showing. The cabinet approved a proposal to rename Lucknow airport after former Prime Minister Charan Singh. A noble move - though the main reason was to appease the party floated by Charan Singh's son Ajit Singh RLD, which has three MPs. The number crunching game:
UPA + Samajwadi Party = 261
They still need 10 votes
The half way mark = 271
RLD= 3, JMM=5, Janata Dal Secular = 2, JK NC=2
Independents, small parties = 6
Total 279
The ruling coalition has firmed up support of 261 MPs including its new found allies - Samajwadi Party. It now needs 10 more to reach the magical figure of 271 to survive the trust vote.
In comes the likes of Ajit Singh's RLD with three members, Jharkand Mukti Morcha with five MPs, Former PM Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (S) with two MPs and Jammu Kashmir's National Conference with two MPs. Add six independent MPs, and the tally reaches 279. The task of getting their support isn't getting any easy. The former allies of the ruling coalition are also ensuring the government does not sail smoothly. The Left reached out to Ajit Singh to ensure he does not commit his support to the Congress-led formation.