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Vajpayee government 15 short of majority

The 13-month old Vajpayee government has been reduced to a minority in the 542-member Lok Sabha when AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha informed President K R Narayanan the withdrawal of her party's support to the BJP-led ruling coalition.

With this, the strength of the ruling coalition has been reduced to 256 and it needs the support of 15 more members to win a confidence vote.

Barring the six-member DMK, which has made it clear that it would not back a Congress government with the AIADMK being part of it, the ruling coalition is yet to secure the support of smaller parties. The stand of the five-member Bahujan Samaj Party is yet to be disclosed. Its chief Kanshiram today said their stand will be known at the time of voting in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP and its allies had a total strength of 275 members before the AIADMK's decision. This included the issue-based support extended by the 11-member Telugu Desam Party. Two members from the north-east -- one from Arunachal Pradesh and one from Sikkim -- have already withdrawn their support to the government. With the AIADMK's exitm the number has come down to 255. The ruling coalition has, however, managed to secure the support of one independent member, according to information available so far.

There are two vacancies in the Lok Sabha besides the speaker who normally does not cast his vote. The working strength of the house is now 542. The magic number required will be 271 (for a simple majority).

The following is the break up of party position as of today.

Ruling coalition:
BJP 182,
Samata Party 13,
Biju Janata Dal 9,
Akali Dal 8,
Trinamul Congress 7,
Shiv Sena 6,
PMK 4,
MDMK 3,
Lok Shakti 3,
Haryana Vikas Party 1,
Arunachal Pradesh Congress 1,
Independents 3.
Two independent members from the north-east are also backing the government. The 11-member Telugu Desam is supporting the government from outside.

Opposition:
Congress 140,
Republican Party of India 4,
Indian Union Muslim League 2,
Kerala Congress-M 1,
CPI-M 32,
CPI 9,
RSP 5,
Forward Bloc 2,
Janata Dal 6,
TMC 3,
National Conference 3,
Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha 37,
Indian National Lok Dal 4,
Indpendents 7.
The stand of the six-member DMK and the 5-member BSP during voting is still not clear.

UNI

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