By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : As suspense mounted ahead of the July 22 trust vote in Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday met her party MPs asking them to put up a united face to ensure Government’s victory in the trial of strength.
Gandhi began meeting Congress MPs in batches at her 10, Janpath residence as the party managers struggled hard to secure the magic figure of 271 required for the survival of the party-led coalition.
There was intense speculation that four of the five JMM MPs would support the government but the party chief Shibu Soren, who is being wooed by both the ruling UPA and opposition NDA, kept his cards close to his chest.
Soren is reportedly insisting on his induction into the cabinet for extending his party’s support. His party’s parliamentary board is expected to take a decision on supporting the Government Saturday.
The CPI(M) central committee also met Saturday to chart out its strategy in the prevailing political turmoil, a day after it left out Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the whip to vote against the UPA Government during the trust vote on July 22.
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI(M) has so far maintained that he should toe the party line to vote against the government.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and senior leaders Sitaram Yechury, V S Achutanandan, Buddhadev Bhattacharya and Manik Sarkar were among the leaders who reviewed the political situation and discussed the course of action to be pursued in the coming days.
Ahead of the central committee meeting, members of the powerful politburo met for about one-and-half hours.
Two Left parties — RSP and Forward Bloc — Saturday issued whips to their respective MPs asking them to vote against the Congress-led coalition during the confidence motion on July 22.
In separate whips issued, the parties asked their MPs to be present in the Lok Sabha during the two-day special session beginning Monday and vote against the government.
The RSP and Forward Block have three MPs each. Both the parties have asked their MPs to reach the capital by Sunday.
“We have asked the MPs to be present in the Lok Sabha during the special session on July 21 and 22 and vote against the confidence motion,” RSP general secretary T J Chandrachoodan told PTI.
Three RSP MPs — Ranen Barman, Joachim Baxla and Sanat Kumar Mandal all from West Bengal– are expected to reach the national capital soon, sources said.
The CPI(M) and CPI have already asked their Lok Sabha members to oppose the trust vote on July 22.