UPA Survives the Trust vote

So, finally the big drama is over and the government survives the trust vote in the parliament!

Dr. Manmohan Singh is the 7th Prime Minister to win the trust vote.


With 271 being the magic number to be reached, the UPA allies managed 275 against 253 in opposition, with the others abstaining from voting.



The climax of the event can be judged from the fact that Punters had bet more than Rs 500 crore on the much publicised event of the year. It is speculated that the amount crossed 2500 crore by the end of the day!!!

This is what was said about a week ago:

Bookies think the UPA would not get more than 274 seats, so they are offering higher payouts to punters who bet their money on seats above 274.

According to one punter, the market expects cross voting by four SP lawmakers but UP Chief Minister Mayawati would not allow at least two other lawmakers of her Bahujan Samaj Party, who are in jail, to travel to New Delhi for the vote, reducing the halfway mark.

"Yet, we are sure the UPA will get more than nine seats from small regional parties, but cannot cross 280-seat mark," he said.

The trust vote, scheduled at 5 pm today, was postponed at the last minute to 6pm and the proceedings were nothing short of a classic case of climax. What was disappointing (though entertaining) was that the entire diaspora was not centered around the deal and its merits/demerits, but rather on the politics behind it and picking of MPs and parties over one another with pouring criticisms and sarcastic remarks. The bargains between them were visible clearly as both sides were desperate for support.

A new twist to the drama was added when a few MPs (rumoured to belong to BJP,) marched into the parliament with cases full of cash claiming that they had been bribed for abstaining!

The Lok Sabha witnessed high drama when a Bharatiya Janata Party member shocked the House by walking into the well with a bag full of currency notes, which he claimed was given by a Samajwadi Party leader in return for his support in the trust vote.

And with Laloo and Mayawati's comments adding more comedy than productive discussion on the deal, the show was more pitifully entertaining than intellectually enlightening.

The results were not disgraceful though, thankfully, and since I was supporting the deal all through, there should be no reason for complaint!

It will be fun to watch world reaction to today's development. Most interesting would be to watch China's response (and the left's response to that).

Update (As I write): Karat, on behalf of CPI(M), has already made a statement that the winning of trust vote by the Manmohan Singh government as the "sad day" of Parliamentary democracy as it was accompanied by charges of bribery and horse trading.

The story has just begun, the deal is still a long way from being a law...

In case you need some food for thought, read yet another conspiracy theory on the Indo-US Nuke Deal here: http://ia.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/22rajeev.htm