By IANS,
Raipur : Republican Party of India (RPI) president and member of parliament Ramdas Athavale announced Saturday his party would vote in favour of the trust motion to be moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha Tuesday.
“The nuclear deal is in the interest of the country and the RPI will vote in favour of the confidence motion,” he told reporters here. Athavale, who represents Pandharpur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra, is the lone member of the RPI in the Lok Sabha.
He also rejected the Left parties’ allegation that the deal would affect India’s strategic capabilities.
“The Left parties were blackmailing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and now they have formed unholy alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” he said, adding “the secular credential of the Left parties are now at stake after it joined hand with the saffron brigade”.
Athavale said: “The number game is in favour of UPA and it will easily get support of at least 280 legislators.”
He said the BJP’s dream to topple the UPA government would remain a dream.