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Ajit Singh keeps parties guessing

— Photo: PTI/ Kamal Singh

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan with Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh in New Delhi on Thursday.

New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh on Thursday kept the UPA government in suspense about his stand on the July 22 confidence vote.

Mr. Singh, whom CPI leader A.B. Bardhan visited earlier in the day, said, “The situation is unclear right now and too many issues are involved.”

He said: “The issue before Parliament is not the nuclear deal, but when the elections can be held and what kind of combinations can be forged.”

The Jat leader refused to say when his party would decide its stand, though just four days are left for the Lok Sabha to convene.

The Congress is banking on the RLD, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the National Conference, apart from the Samajwadi Party, to sail through the confidence vote.

Mr. Singh remained non-committal also on his discussions with Mr. Bardhan and his scheduled meeting with Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday. “I have known Mr. Rao for a long time and that is why I am meeting him,” Mr. Singh said, adding he had had no contact with either Mayawati [BSP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister] or Mulayam Singh [SP chief] till date.

On the outcome of his meeting with Mr. Bardhan, the RLD chief said the CPI leader had apprised him of “some new technical facts” about the deal and also the Left stand on it. Before taking any decision, he would discuss the issues raised by Mr. Bardhan with his party colleagues. — PTI

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