Fission 038; Fusion

CPI M Politburo member and Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said it is up to the Speaker to decide on his resignation.

CPI M Politburo member and Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said it is up to the Speaker to decide on his resignation. 8220;The Speaker8217;s office should not be sucked into controversies,8221; he said.

Two more pro-UPA jailed MPs 8212; RJD8217;s Mohd Shahabuddin and LJP8217;s Surajbhan Singh 8212; have been allowed by the Patna High Court to take part in the trust vote.

BSP MP Akbar Ahmad Dampi met Samajwadi Party MP Afzal Ansari in Ghazipur district jail of Uttar Pradesh, in an apparent bid to bring him into the SP fold.

The BSP denied allegations that Samajwadi Party MP Akshay Pratap Singh was offered Rs 30 crore to vote against the UPA. 8220;Amar Singh is infamous for horse-trading. BSP is a party of principles,8221; said BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.

CPIM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said there was nothing wrong in including Somnath Chatterjee8217;s name in the party8217;s list of MPs withdrawing support to the UPA.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav asserted that his flock of MPs was intact. 8220;Not even a single MP has deserted the party and the likes of Munawwar Hasan and Jai Prakash Rawat who are against the deal had left the party three months ago,8221; he said.

BJD president and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his party would issue a whip to its MPs to vote against the UPA Government.

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The BJP revoked the suspension of Vallabh Bhai Katheria, party MP from Rajkot, Gujarat, to align its disgruntled MPs ahead of the July 22 vote of confidence. BJP has 130 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Republican Party of India MP Ramdas Athavale said he will support the UPA in spite of being denied a ministry berth as the country8217;s interests are more important than personal grudges.

The BJP questioned Speaker Somnath Chatterjee8217;s reservation on voting along with the party in the trust motion. 8220;How can he express his political opinion with a bias while holding the post of Speaker which he states is non-partisan,8221; BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy asked.

Rebel Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP A Narendra said he would vote for the UPA if it gives a firm assurance by July 20 on carving out a separate Telangana state.

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While CPM leader Subhash Chakraborty met party patriarch Jyoti Basu to reiterate his stand that voting with the BJP on the nuclear-deal issue would harm the party8217;s interests, WB CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Politburo member Biman Bose asked him to ask Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to follow the party8217;s stand.

The West Bengal Assembly decided to discuss the nuclear deal on Thursday under a non-official motion.

The TRS declared that it will be the first party to back Mayawati as Prime Minister if and when the situation comes. 8220;Any progressive party will be happy to support her,8221; TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said.

CPI national secretary D Raja has said that the Left would never join hands with the BJP. 8220;We will be the first to oppose the communal BJP. It is unfair to say that we have joined hands with the BJP to dislodge the UPA Government,8221; he said.