Patna, July 16 : Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and central minister Ramvilas Paswan has given a vote of confidence to the Congress-led government saying it was sure to win the trust motion in parliament and that the India-US nuclear deal was "essential for development".
After Railway Minister Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) verbalised his confidence that the Manmohan Singh government would survive the trust vote next week, Paswan has been doing the same in public functions in Bihar.
Paswan, a key member of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with four MPs in the Lok Sabha, said the UPA would win the confidence vote as it has the support of "old and new allies".
The steel, chemical and fertilisers minister, who has been addressing gatherings in Jehanabad, Bhojpur and Patna districts over the last two days, said: "The nuclear deal agreement is essential for the development of the country. All those opposing it are not interested in the country's development."
Without naming the Left parties, which withdrew support to the UPA, or the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Paswan said: "It is baseless that India will become a slave of America after the nuclear deal."
He said it would pave the way for electricity in every household across the country, similar to the cell phone revolution.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) general secretary Tariq Anwar echoed Paswan.
Expressing confidence that the UPA would pull through July 22, he said new allies like the Samajwadi Party and other smaller parties would fill the gap caused by the Left withdrawal.
"The nuclear deal has got the support of a majority of people in the country," said Anwar, whose party has 11 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
(IANS)
