Hurrah! Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has won the vote of
confidence by 19 votes. So much for the Hindu nationalists and the
communists who tried to bring down the government and wreck the Indo-US
civilian nuclear energy agreement.
The final count shows the Government won 275 votes and the opposition 256 votes, says the BBC. The government needed 273 votes to win in the 543-member parliament.
The BBC adds: If the government had lost the vote, India would have faced early elections, casting the nuclear deal in doubt.
There was brief confusion over the counting process. Most voting was
electronic, but about 50 votes were cast on paper which delayed the
count.At least four MPs were too ill to vote from the chamber of the
543-seat house itself, but it is still not clear why so many MPs cast
paper ballots.But the government managed to scrape through with the support of smaller parties and independent members.
India faces a general election next year and many political parties
have used the debate over the nuclear deal to stake out their positions
ahead of the polls.
