As the demand for the government to seek trust vote gathered momentum, the Congress on Thursday decided to convene a meeting of UPA allies in New Delhi on Friday to discuss the future course of action.
The decision was taken at a 90-minute-long meeting of the Congress Core Group attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party chief Sonia Gandhi, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, A K Antony and Shivraj Patil among other senior leaders.
"We will convene Parliament as soon as possible. We have a meeting of the UPA allies in the morning tomorrow besides a meeting of Congress Working Committee," AICC general secretary Ahmed Patel told reporters after the meeting.
The meeting came amid hectic efforts by Congress managers to ensure the numbers for the ruling coalition during a trust vote in Parliament as Left parties withdrew support to the government, plunging it into a minority.
The meeting at the official residence of the Prime Minister also comes ahead of Singh's meeting with President Pratibha Patil later in the night.
The top leaders are understood to have reviewed the current political scenario and the stand to be adopted as the government moved ahead with the nuclear deal requesting the IAEA to convene a meeting of its Board of Governors to finalise an India-specific safeguards agreement.
The meeting is also believed to have discussed a likely date for convening a special session of Lok Sabha for floor test.
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