New Delhi:
The Rajya Sabha is all set to vote on the government's decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
The Rajya Sabha has 244 members and the government is in minority here. On Thursday, Mayawati announced that her party, the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) will vote in favour of the government. This could help the UPA scrape through by a whisker and win the vote in the Upper House.
The UPA, including all allies, has 94 MPs and nine of the 10 nominated MPs are expected to vote for it, a total of 103. The 10th, Sachin Tendulkar, is playing the Kolkata third Test against England and will not be in the House.
With the nine Samajwadi Party MPs expected to abstain, as the party did in the Lok Sabha, and Sachin absent, the House strength will come down to 234 and the majority mark to 118. Ms Mayawati's 15 MPs will take the pro-FDI total to 118, exactly the number it requires.