In a blow to the Left, the NDA may actually abstain.
Apparently an internal poll revealed that the party's supporters were quite upset with their opposition to the deal besides dissension within their ranks. Stalwarts like Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh, Narinder Modi and even Arun Jaitley opposes the party's stand, particularly after Brajesh Mishra went public with his support to the deal.
But trigger was provided by Mayawati defecting to the Left. This left the BJP a non-player in UP and without seat contribution from UP, the NDA cannot have a shot at power.
More disconcerting is whether other NDA allies would gravitate towards UNPA.
So the party has asked its leaders not to open its mouth over the deal. This is as a prelude to abstaining or walking out in the trust vote. A defeat of the Left in the trust vote is seen beneficial for 3 reasons:
a. BJP does not want immediate elections b. Once the nuclear deal is put behind, it can consolidate its allies c. It avoids chinks within NDA with parties like Akali Dal, Shiv Sena abstaining or voting with the deal
