SP Parliamentary Board asks all MPs to ensure presence on July 22

New Delhi, Jul 18 (UNI) The Samajwadi Party Parliamentary Board today held an important meeting just three days ahead of the crucial trust vote in Parliament, and asked all its Lok Sabha members to ensure their presence on July 21 and 22.

''The meeting was held to take stock of the current political situation, and to ensure that there were no abstentions on the crucial day'' an MP said.

He said two MPs Saleem Sherwani and Usha Sharma were among some of the members who could not attend today's meeting. However, some of them like Mohan Singh, who were absent from the Board's meeting held last week, were present today.

Two rebel MPs Jayprakash Rawat and Rajnarain Budholia who did not attend the last meeting were absent this time too. One MP Munawwar Hussain is facing suspension for anti-party activities. He openly declared today that he was going to join the BSP after the vote of trust on July 22. Besides, two of the SP MPs Atiqur Rehman and Afzal Ansari were in jail, but their loyalty too was in question.

Two more SP MPs Beni Prasad Verma and Raj Babbar, who too were facing suspension, were not supposed to be present at today's meeting.

The Samajwadi Party has already alleged that the BSP was trying to poach on its MPs and threatening them of dire consequences if they did not fall in line, which Ms Mayawati has dismissed a bundle of lies.

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