PM, Advani host dinners for their backers ahead of trust vote


As the big vote stared at their face, rival leaders of two major alliances tonight took the dinner route to complete the trust vote solidarity exercise with two rebel MPS being at the centre of attention.
Dinner diplomacy was in full flow at the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meal for MPs from his Congress party, UPA constituents and from new ally Samajwadi party at the Ashoka Hotel but it was a new catch who hogged all the limelight. In a spirit of bonhomie, a confident looking prime minister went from table to table and greeted all his backers.

Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, the BJP MP who defected to Samajwadi Party, was escorted by SP leader Amar Singh to the dinner straight from a press conference where his decision was announced. Amar Singh had just displayed an act of bravado when he said the UPA "bloomed" and not "doomed" as predicted by CPI-M leader Prakash Karat.

Despite an invitation by the UPA managers to the National Conference which has two MPs none attended the dinner fuelling speculation on which way the group will go.

At the NDA dinner hosted by BJP's prime minister in waiting L K Advani at Parliament Annexe, rebel Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi grabbed all the eyeballs.

Bishnoi, son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, dropped a bombshell in continuing allegations of horse-trading claiming that he was approached by a person "very close" to him with Rs 100 crore offer to abstain during the trust vote.

"I was also offered a ministership in return of supporting the nuclear deal," Bishnoi told reporters.

Refusing to divulge the identity of the person who made the offer, the Bhiwani MP only said that he was someone "very close to me".