New Delhi, July 19: In a relief to NDA ahead of the trust vote in Lok Sabha, its constituent Shiv Sena having 12 members tonight decided to vote against the UPA government, setting at rest speculation to the contrary.
The party will issue a whip tomorrow to its MPs to
vote against the government.
Sena supremo Bal Thackeray told party MPs at a
meeting at his residence here this evening that the UPA
government had "failed" on all fronts and has to go.
Eleven of the 12 Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena were
present at the crucial meeting convened by Sena Executive
President Uddhav Thackeray.
Bal Thackeray made a brief appearance at the meeting
and directed the MPs to vote against the government, Sena
MPs Manohar Joshi and Anant Geete told reporters after the
meeting.
Uddhav has already announced that his party was with
NDA on the trust vote issue.
However, Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' had stridently
supported the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it was in the
country's interests.
Bureau Report
JD(S) unlikely to support UPA
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, whose JD(S) has three MPs in the Lok Sabha, today had a "cordial" meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but appears unlikely to support the UPA government during the trust vote.
For the record, Gowda remained non-committal,
maintaining afterwards that a decision on how the party would
vote would be taken tomorrow.
Sources close to him said that JD(S) is likely to vote
against the government.
Soon after his brief meeting with the Prime Minister,
the JD(S) supremo said that it should not be viewed as if he
was bargaining for something.
"I have not come for bargaining," the former Prime
Minister said adding that he had quit the high office earlier.
Asked about the meeting, he simply described it as
"cordial". Gowda said that Singh is the Prime Minister and
would remain so till the House votes his government out.
To repeated questions as to whether JD(S) would support
the trust vote on July 22, Gowda's refrain was that no
decision has been taken so far.
The matter would be decided at the Political Affairs
Committee meeting of the party tomorrow, he said.
No division says SAD
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has said that it would stick to its stand of voting against Congress-led UPA during the July 22 trial of strength in Parliament. On Saturday the party refuted claims made by the Congress that the party was "divided" on the issue.
"Our (SAD) stand is very clear against the Congress...all claims that Akalis are divided is incorrect, in fact the SAD MPs are united on the issue," SAD General Secretary and party's parliamentary board chairman Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said.
On the directions of party supremo and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the party's parliamentary board chairman yesterday issued a whip to the eight SAD MPs to vote against the Congress during the trust vote.
Rebutting Congress claims quoting sources by a private channel that the SAD MPs are "divided" on the nuclear issue, Dhindsa categorically said that the party MPs are "united and unanimous" on the issue of voting against the Congress-led UPA.
"Neither we approached any ally of UPA nor its constituents had contacted us...they know our stand is clear against the Congress-led Central Government," he said and ruled out possibility of cross voting by the party MPs.
First Published: Saturday, July 19, 2008, 00:00