UPA Govt bound to fall as its strength in LS is not more than 250, claims BJP

New Delhi, July 15 : Senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra today claimed that the Congress-led UPA Government was bound to fall on July 22 because "the ruling coalition was not able to cobble together more than 250 members in the Lower House of the parliament".

In order to win the trust vote, the UPA ought to have 272 votes in the 545-member strong House. Malhotra suggested that the five MPs who have been convicted or are facing trial must not be allowed to vote in the trust motion.

Malhotra, party's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, said that a few small parties, and even a section of the Congress MPs (in Lok Sabha), were in constant touch with the BJP and were ready to vote against the Government during the trust motion over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

He, however, did not divulge the names of the political parties and the Congressmen.

Malhotra said that the NDA was intact and that a meeting of all NDA chief ministers has been called tomorrow in the Capital to discuss the future political strategy, as the Centre Government was bound to fall.

He said thereafter a meeting of the NDA allies would be called at Leader of Opposition LK Advani's residence. "Our core group has been meeting regularly over the past few days to read the latest political situation in the country ahead of the trust vote on the Indo-US nuclear deal," Malhotra told media persons at the regular press briefing this afternoon.

Interacting with the press persons on the occasion, party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the BJP was "not in favour of the Indo-US nuclear deal in its present form and that it opposed in national interest. We are not against friendly relations against the US," he clarified.

He said that incorrect conclusions have been drawn over the past few days regarding the BJP's stance regarding the deal, and added "we are opposing the deal in its present form which is against the national interests." Pankaj Yadav

ANI