To make matters worse, JMM chief Shibu Soren — who UPA crisis managers believe will eventually come on board with the promise of a Cabinet berth — continued to play truant. While he was in New Delhi on Wednesday, he remained incommunicado. What is giving nightmares to these crisis managers is the speculation about some party MPs in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat being approached by the Opposition camp.

Meanwhile, the government was planning to field its best speakers to participate in the debate on trust motion. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will move the motion, other speakers being considered include Rahul Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot. Government sources, however, said the list of probable speakers was yet to be cleared by the Congress President and Rahul is yet to decide on whether he will intervene.

House Strength – 543

Effective Strength – 542 (Excluding PC Thomas, barred from voting)

Total UPA

Congress – 153

SP – 35

RJD – 24

DMK – 15*

NCP – 11

PMK – 5

JMM – 5**

LJP – 4

RLD – 3**

MDMK – 2

PDP – 1

KEC – 1

Muslim League – 1

RPI – 1

SDF – 1

TRS (A. Narendra) – 1

NLP - 1

Total – 264

* Minus Dayanidhi Maran

** Not in the UPA bag yet but likely to stay

... contd.