Indian government to seek trust vote in parliament (Roundup)

Jul 10, 2008, 16:03 GMT

New Delhi - India's ruling United Progressive Alliance on Thursday said it will seek a confidence vote to prove its majority in parliament after its communist partners withdrew their support to protest a civilian nuclear deal with the United States.

'Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, called on the President Pratibha Patil today and stated that he and his cabinet colleagues are keen to seek a vote of confidence as early as possible,' a communique from the Presidential Palace stated.

'The precise date on which the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) will be summoned for this purpose will be communicated to the President by the Prime Minister by Friday evening,' it added.

An official spokesman said Singh had informed Patil that the Congress party-led UPA was keen on holding the vote as it had the requisite numbers to pass.

Patil had asked Singh's office for the meeting after four left-wing parties with 59 members in parliament cut ties and demanded a confidence vote on Wednesday, saying the government was reduced to being a minority one.

The communists, who describe the nuclear deal as a 'sell-out' of India's strategic sovereignty, took the decision soon after Singh met US President George W Bush on the margins of the G8 summit in Japan and discussed progress on the deal.

The India-US nuclear agreement would allow the US to trade fissile materials and technology with India, ending a three-decade ban.

Congress party politicians said the UPA, with new-found support from its former rival Samajwadi (Socialist) Party, has more than 272 members in the 543-member Indian parliament, that is required to pass the floor test and prove a majority.

But with two of the 39 SP members of parliament saying they would defy party discipline, the UPA government would have 263 votes - nine short of 272, and the UPA whips are desperately courting members of smaller regional parties to gain the numbers.

The Singh government which came to power in 2004 concludes its five-year term in May 2009 but a defeat for the government in the floor test could mean early polls, possibly by winter.

It would also spell the death of the nuclear deal and trigger political uncertainty as the country faces slower economic growth rates and an unprecedented double-digit inflation.

The Singh-Patil meeting on Thursday came against the backdrop of India's circulating a draft nuclear safeguards agreement among the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) members in Vienna.

The safeguards agreement is required to be approved by the IAEA board of governors before Delhi secures an exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and sends it to the US Congress for ratification.

Under the safeguards agreement made public by the Indian government, India will have access to the international nuclear fuel market, including reliable, uninterrupted and continuous access to fuel supplies from companies in several nations.

Meanwhile, the communist parties and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the government for going to the IAEA without facing the confidence vote first.

'The government's decision to go ahead with nuclear deal is nothing but a shocking betrayal of commitment to the country and the people,' CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said.

But Congress accused the leftist parties of misleading the country.

'They know very well that parliamentary support would be initiated well before the board of governors of the IAEA meet to approve the agreement. Only circulation among members is being done now,' Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told the PTI news agency.

'They are a making a mountain when not even a molehill exists,' he added.