July 24, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 20, 1429

NEW DELHI, July 23: India’s main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Wednesday expelled eight of its MPs who switched loyalties in a confidence vote.

The vote on Tuesday was triggered by the communist parties who withdrew their support for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government over a controversial nuclear energy agreement with the United States.

Despite a tight race, Singh’s government won amid furious opposition allegations that the coalition had bribed MPs to vote in their favour in order to see through its last year in office.

Eight BJP legislators who either abstained or voted in favour of Singh’s government have been expelled, the party said.

“All those who have violated the whip have been expelled,” opposition leader Lal Krishan Advani told a news conference.

Three BJP MPs created a furore in parliament ahead of Tuesday’s vote by waving bundles of money they alleged had been offered to them for abstaining to help the government win.

“July 22 will be remembered as a black day in the history of parliament,” Advani said.

Meanwhile, India’s left-wing parties and other opposition groups on Wednesday mounted a scathing attack on the government over inflation and a nuclear pact with the United States after failing to topple it in a confidence vote.

“All the political parties present decided to join launch a joint national level campaign on pressing issues before the people,” Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), told a news conference.

The new opposition bloc consists of four left-wing groups and six other regional parties, who say they can provide an alternative to both the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.—AFP