Ajit meets TRS chief, Cong watches in disquiet

New Delhi, Jul 18 (UNI) Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president Chandra Sekhara Rao today met over dinner to discuss the current political situation, which was growing very fluid with the day of trust vote inching closer.

The UPA government and its rival camp are both counting greatly on small parties for their victory when the motion of confidence over the nuclear is put to vote in Parliament on July 22.

The RLD, which has its base among the farmers of western Uttar Pradesh and sent three MPs to Lok Sabha, is yet to decide which side to support, while the TRS has already declared that it would oppose the UPA government.

After meeting the TRS leader, Mr Singh told reporters that he and Mr Rao were old frends and they had some demands in common like the demand for smaller states.

Mr Singh said he discussed the ongoing political developments with Mr Rao but was yet to take a decision on the support to the government.

The RLD chief will be meeting Janta Dal (S) leader H D Deve Gowda and TDP chief Chandra Babu Naidu tomorrow. He is also likely to meet Ms Mayawati on Sunday.

Senior Left leaders like A B Bardhan have already had a meeting with Mr Singh.

The Congress is already in touch with the RLD chief and had only yesterday conceded his demand to rename the Lucknow airport after his father late Ch Charan Singh.

According to political observers, Mr Singh was bargaining hard with the Congress before extending support to it.

After meeting Mr Bardhan yesterday, Mr Singh did not commit anything but said he would reassess the political situation in the light of his discussion with the CPI leader.

The RLD chief had said he would soon call a meeting of his party MPs and other leaders to take a final decision.

UNI NAZ RJ UCS2318