New Delhi: A meeting of Samajwadi Party MPs held here today ahead of the crucial July 22 trust vote saw 16 of the 39 Lok Sabha members turning up.

The meeting, addressed by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and General Secretary Amar Singh, has assumed importance as the SP has become a crucial ally of the Congress-led coalition at the Centre ahead of the confidence motion.

While MPs Ateeq Ahmed and Afzal Ansari are in jail, Raj Babbar and Beni Prasad Verma have been suspended from the party. Munawwar Hasan is a known rebel, who has announced that he would vote against the motion.

Same is the case with Rajnarain Budholiya, MP from Hamiripur, and Jai Prakash, who represents Mohanlalganj. Kirti Vardhan Singh, Mohan Singh and Revati Raman Singh, who had not attended the last Parliamentary Party meeting of SP, were present at the two days deliberation. Meanwhile, the party has issued a three-line whip asking its members to be present in the Lok Sabha on July 21 and 22 and vote in favour of the confidence motion.

Source : PTI