New Delhi, Following the withdrawal of support to the UPA government by the Left parties the Congress, which is leading the coalition at the centre is looking out for votes to save the government in parliament.
The party president Sonia Gandhi, who held an emergency meeting of the senior party leaders has entrusted some of her party's top leaders to talk to smaller parties who could extend support to the government. The Congress said it is confident of saving the government as Samajwadi Party, a major political force with 39 MPs in Lok Sabha has already committed its support to the government. Besides, JD (S), RLD and few independent have also committed their support to the government.
The current strength of the UPA in Lok Sabha is 225 and halfway mark in is 272 and the UPA, as of now, has 225 votes of its own.
The Samajwadi Party—the Government's new friend—has 39 MPs but its actual numbers may fall to 35 because of disgruntled MPs like Beniprasad Verma. If the Government gets 35 SP votes, the total will reach 260—12 short of the safety mark of 272.
Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will bring in three MPS; then the government will be nine short of passing the floor test.
The Janata Dal (Secular), former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's party, has promised the support of its two MPs. The government then has 265 votes but it's still seven short.
In a touch and go situation Congress is wooing a host of political leaders and minor parties. Crucial among them are three of the six Independents, the BNP of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the NLP of Uttar Pradesh, the SDF of Sikkim and MNF of Mizoram. All these parties have one MP each.
With Left parties out, the UPA government is also expecting support of the All India Trinamool Congress of West Bengal and the National Conference of Jammu and Kashmir. The two parties have three MPs in total. With their support, the government should reach a figure of 278 to 280—more than the majority mark.