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Updated July 18th, 2018 at 19:30 IST

Lok Sabha numbers: As Sonia Gandhi challenges PM Narendra Modi over the No Confidence vote, here's how the seats stack up

UPA chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi significantly upped the ante against the Modi government on Wednesday by claiming that she has the required numbers to win the No Confidence vote that is to be held in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Reported by: Ankit Prasad
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UPA chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi significantly upped the ante against the Modi government on Wednesday by claiming that she has the required numbers to win the No Confidence vote that is to be held in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

READ | No-confidence Motion: Sonia Gandhi Claims To Defeat PM Narendra Modi On The Floor Of The House

But is there truth to Sonia Gandhi's words? Here's how the numbers stack up ahead of the all-important debate and vote:

Total Lok Sabha seats: 543
Current Lok Sabha members: 536
Halfway mark: 268

Support for Government:

BJP: 273 seats
Shiromani Akali Dal: 4 seats
Lok Janshakti Party: 6 seats
JD(U): 2 seats
Others: 10 seats

Total: 295 seats

For No-Confidence:

Congress: 48 seats
Trinamool Congress: 34 seats
Telugu Desam Party: 16
CPI(M): 9
Samajwadi Party: 7 seats
NCP: 7 seats
RJD: 4 seats
AAP: 4 seats
AIMIM: 1 seat
CPI: 1 seat
RLD: 1 seat

Total: 132 seats 

Undecided:

AIADMK: 37 seats
BJD: 20 seats
Shiv Sena: 18 seats 
TRS: 11 seats

Total: 86 seats

So how does this play out?

Scenario 1: NDA versus Opposition

Current Lok Sabha: 536
Halfway mark: 268 

For NDA: 295
For No-Confidence: 132

Congress short of: 136

Scenario 2: If fence-sitters back Sonia Gandhi

Halfway mark: 268

For No-Confidence: 132
Undecided votes: 86
Congress still short of: 46

HOW UNITED IS THE OPPOSITION AND HOW DID IT COME TO BE THIS WAY

Talk of a united opposition has been ongoing ever since the BJP's stunning performance in the Assembly elections in three North-East states that were held earlier this year. At that time, it was West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) who had voiced the need for a united opposition to challenge not just the BJP, but the Congress as well.

The ranks of the opposition were bolstered when the TDP announced its departure from the NDA government over the issue of Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh, which culminated on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha Speaker admitting the Chandrababu Naidu-led party's No-Confidence motion against the Modi government.

MASSIVE: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan Accepts No-Confidence Motion Against Narendra Modi-led Government

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, two very large regional parties in the most electorally significant state, Uttar Pradesh, came together for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls to hand embarrassing defeats to U.P CM Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya who were the last holders of those seats.

The biggest show of strength, however, was made at the swearing-in of the HD Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka where leaders of a number of parties, including TDP, TMC, Congress, JD(S), RJD, NCP, AAP and others came together. However, it was also around this time that the Opposition received its biggest setback, as Rahul Gandhi statement declaring that he would be the Prime Minister if the Congress has the numbers, made towards the end of the election campaign, drew criticism from Opposition members, and may have contributed to Mamata Banerjee and Chandrababu Naidu changing tact and championing regional parties at the expense of the Congress.

With the 2019 Elections looming large, key assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram to come, and given the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir the events of Friday will give all parties and voters a clearer picture of who stands where.

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Published July 18th, 2018 at 19:30 IST

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