President to meet PM over confidence vote
Rashtrapati Bhawan sources say the meeting is slated after 7 pm after which it will be clear whether the PM will seek a vote of confidence in Lok Sabha or not.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to meet President Pratibha Patil this evening following the withdrawal of support by four Left parties to the UPA government.
The President on Wednesday night asked Singh to meet her on Thursday after the Left parties withdrew support to the Congress-led coalition.
Rashtrapati Bhavan sources said the meeting is slated after 7 pm following which it would be clear whether the Prime Minister would be seeking a vote of confidence in Lok Sabha or not.
The President may also follow the precedence set by one of her predecessors K R Narayanan of not calling for a confidence vote if she is convinced that the UPA Government has the requisite number of Parliamentarians.
Singh returned from Japan after the G-8 summit well past midnight.
The Left parties had yesterday submitted letters announcing snapping of ties with the UPA Government and also submitted a list of 60 MPs and a joint letter signed by leaders of -- CPI-M, CPI, RSP and Forward Block -- asking the President to direct the Prime Minister to seek a vote confidence in the Lok Sabha immediately.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh and its parliamentary party leader Ramgopal Yadav also met the President and gave a fresh letter of support of 39 of its MPs to the Government.
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