After the Left pulled the plug, the number game that will decide the fate of the government occupied centre stage on Tuesday with the United Progressive Alliance claiming they have the support of small groups and independents to sail through a trust vote.
    
With the Samajwadi party, whose 39 members will be crucial for the survival of the government, stepping in after the Left decided to withdraw support, the ruling coalition whose strength has been reduced to 230 is expected to be three short of the magic figure of 272.
    
UPA managers are claiming that as of now the Government could count on the support of at least 273 members in the Lok Sabha which currently has 543 members. There are two vacancies.
    
The talk of unease among some Memebers of  Parliament in Samajwadi in joining hands with the Congress has triggered speculation that the party may not have the backing of all the 39 MPs. But SP leader Amar Singh claimed all the members will vote for the government.
   
Rashtriya Janata Dal  supremo Lalu Yadav claimed that the UPA has numbers on its side to win a confidence vote.
    
The ruling side is banking on three independents-- Thupstan Chhewang from Jammu and Kashmir [Images], Harish Nagpal from Uttar Pradesh and  Charenamei Mani from Manipur.
    
The three-member Rashtriya Lok Dal is also being seen as a supporter of the ruling side with Ajit Singh having a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi [Images] sometime back. The Congress is also hopeful that former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular which has three MPs may vote for the government.

The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati is watching the situation very closely and party MPs say that she was holding intense consultations on the strategy ahead.
    
For her the securing of the trust vote by the Government with SP support would mean rise in political sensex of the Samajwadi Party, her known detractors in her home turf.
    
Ministers are claiming that they are cautious about the tactics of Mayawati and also about reports of revolt in the ranks of the Samajwadi Party.  The SP has debunked such reports.
   
With every single vote becoming important, the Congress is happy that the Peoples Democratic Party having only one member is supporting it ,delinking the vote from the political problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
    
Congress is also counting on suspended SP MP Raj Babbar as also Beni Prasad Verma whose disqualification has been sought by the party as those which would support the trust vote.
    
Also expelled JD-S member M P Veerendra Kumar and A Narendra who has been expelled by the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti are being seen by the ruling side as their potential supporters.
    
Unruffled by the Left decision to withdraw support to it, Government voiced confidence about securing the trust vote in the Lok Sabha despite the "designs" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
    
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi also told the Left parties that they should realise the "political implications" of voting together with the BJP.
    
Ravi was among the senior leaders who held parleys with Congress President Sonia Gandhi soon after the Left announcement.
       
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister contended that even in the opposition NDA, no party, including the BJP, was opposed to the nuclear deal.