In a relief to the National Democratic Alliance ahead of the trust vote in Lok Sabha, its constituent Shiv Sena having 12 members on Saturday night decided to vote against the United Progressive Alliance government, setting at rest speculation to the contrary.
Magic Number: UPA still 11 short
The party will issue a whip on Sunday to its MPs to vote against the government.
Sena supremo Bal Thackeray told party MPs at a meeting at his residence in Mumbai on Saturday evening that the UPA government had 'failed' on all fronts and has to go.
Special: An Alliance in Crisis
Eleven of the 12 Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena were present at the crucial meeting convened by Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray.
Bal Thackeray made a brief appearance at the meeting and directed the MPs to vote against the government, Sena MPs Manohar Joshi and Anant Geete told media persons after the meeting.
'The BJP is approaching our MPs'
Uddhav has already announced that his party was with the National Democratic alliance on the trust vote issue.
However, Sena mouthpiece Saamna had stridently supported the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it was in the country's interests.