RSP, Forward Bloc issue whip for trust vote

New Delhi, Jul 19 : The two Left parties -- RSP and Forward Bloc on Saturday, July 19 issued whips to its Lok Sabha MPs for the July 22 trust vote when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government will face the crucial vote of confidence in the Parliament.

In separate whips, the parties asked their MPs to vote against the Government. The party also asked them to reach New Delhi on July 20 and to be present in Parliament on the following two days. The RSP and Forward Block have three MPs each. On Friday, the CPI (M) asked 43 of its MPs to vote against the UPA Government. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has not been served with a whip.

The government believes it has enough votes to avoid an early election after securing the backing of the Samajwadi Party (SP). But, observers say the trust vote could turn out to be close.

To win the trust vote, the government needs to reach the 272 mark in the 545-member lower house of parliament.

ANI